Today at 7:30 a.m. ET, Russia and Finland faceoff in men's Olympic ice hockey quarterfinal action live from the Bolshoy Ice Dome in Sochi as part of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. The game can be live streamed for free here.
The host Russians are three wins away from winning a gold medal on home ice while Finland knows that it will be tough to silence the crowd but also understands that it is also three games away from leaving with the gold.
Russia won a 4-0 game against Norway on Tuesday to earn their way into the game, and even though the game takes place in Sochi, they come in as the lower seed and thus are the "away" team. Russia only lost one game in the tournament thus far--an eight-round shootout loss to the United States--but the team hasn't looked particularly powerful in its three wins.
The Russians didn't score against Norway--whose lone NHL player Mats Zuccarello was injured--until the second period, and it didn't run away with the game until notching two late goals in the third. Finland comes in with a lot of NHL star power and the Russians know that this game won't be a cake walk.
"They're a good team, they've got a good goalie and we have to find a way to beat him if we want a chance to win," former NHL player and current KHL talent Ilya Kovalchuk said via NHL.com. "I think we play better and better with each game. Even with Slovakia I think we played well and created a lot of chances."
Sergei Bobrovsky (Columbus Blue Jackets) stopped all 22 shots he faced Tuesday between the pipes just two days after Semyon Varlamov (Colorado Avalanche) shutout Slovakia in Russia's final Group A game.
Alex Ovechkin is a key player to watch for the Russians as he is the NHL's leading goal-scorer with 40 tallies for the Washington Capitals and he's added 20 assists for 60 points.
Finland earned decisive victories against Austria and Norway before ensuring a bye into the quarterfinals by taking Canada to overtime in its final Group B game on Sunday, which ultimately ended in a loss. Aleksander Barkov, 18, (Florida Panthers) will miss the rest of the tournament due to an eye injury, leaving Finland thin at center.
Finland coach Erkka Westerlund knows that the Russians provide a big test, but also realizes that if his team wants to win gold it will have to go through some of the world's best countries.
"In this tournament, you will have to win against big countries," Westerlund told NHL.com. "Russia would be a big challenge for us. They play very good hockey and they have good set of players."
Finland has thrived under veteran leadership, especially coming from Teemu Selanne of the Anaheim Ducks who is in his sixth Olympic Games.
Selanne, 43, has 20 points in 47 games for the Ducks this season off of seven goals and 13 assists.
Finland and Russia do battle to see who will advance to the semifinals when the puck drops today at the Bolshoy Ice Dome in Sochi as part of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.
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