Mike Cammalleri had a goal and an assist to help Canada defeat defending champion Sweden 4-1 on Saturday and secure its place in the final of the ice hockey world championship.
Earlier, Mikko Koivu scored in overtime to lead Finland to a 2-1 victory over host Russia and its first gold medal game since 2001.
"It's always tight when you go to overtime so it's a good feeling," Koivu said. "To reach the final you need to have something special as a team."
PHOTO: AFP
This is the fourth time in the last five years that Canada has reached the final. Canada won back-to-back titles in 2003 and 2004. Finland is seeking its second title and first since 1995.
"I don't think anyone expected to beat Russia at this tournament and the Finns did it," Canada forward Rick Nash said. "They outworked them and played aggressive so it's pretty impressive on their behalf. It's going to be a lot of fun tomorrow night."
Sweden will vie with Russia for the bronze.
Dominating puck possession throughout, Canada jumped to a 3-0 lead in the opening period.
Cammalleri opened the scoring at 11:05 on the power play, firing a shot from the faceoff circle that got past Swedish goalie Johan Backlund. Jonathan Toews notched another 87 seconds later, slipping the puck in while diving in front of the net. Erik Staal added a third.
Johan Davidsson helped close the gap at 6:13 into the second frame, drilling a shot that ricocheted off defenseman Shea Weber's skate and past Canadian goalie Cam Ward. But the Swedes were soon down three goals again when Nash scored at 15:17, escaping a 2-on-1 before driving the puck through Backlund's five-hole.
"It's tough to be down 3-0, going uphill the rest of the way," Swedish defenseman Dick Tarnstrom said.
At 5:40 into overtime, Koivu skated into the slot to chase after a long pass from Tuomo Ruutu at the boards, pried Russian goaltender Alexander Eremenko's stick off the ice with his own and sliced the puck into the net.
Evgeni Malkin delighted the home crowd on the power play 8:36 into the opening period, hitting a shot from the face-off circle that went over goalie Kari Lehtonen's stick.
The Finns scored less than four minutes later, despite being short-handed, when Jukka Hentunen broke away, escaping Sergie Gonchar to beat Vasili Koshechkin with a backhanded flick.
Neither team was able to score in the second and third periods.
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