US beats Finland, Russia tops Belarus on ice

2009-05-07 00:48:03 -

BERN, Switzerland (AP) - Russia came back twice to beat Belarus 4-3 and carry its title defense into a semifinal rematch with the United States at the ice hockey world championship on Wednesday.
The Americans edged Finland 3-2, and will meet Russia on Friday less than a week after losing to the champs 4-1 in a

second-round match.
Russia was made to battle by Belarus, which became the first side to hold the tournament favorite goalless in the first period then led 1-0 and 2-1 in a back-and-forth second.
It was 3-2 Russia when defenseman Ruslan Salei tied the game again near the end of the period.
That caused Russia coach Slava Bykov to pull goalie Ilya Bryzgalov for the third when star forward Ilya Kovalchuk won it.
Bykov said Bryzgalov and the whole Russia team looked «a bit nervous. It was a good decision.
Kovalchuk picked up the puck and cut into the Belarus zone before sending a wrist shot through Andrei Mezin's pads.
Kovalchuk said Belarus was always extra motivated for its big neighbor.
«It's a big thing for them,» Kovalchuk said. «Now we feel what the playoffs is. It was a great game and I think the best team is going forward.
Coached by Glen Hanlon, Belarus was looking to repeat its upset 1-0 victory over Russia at the 2000 worlds.
«I'm extremely proud of our players. We had great leadership,» Hanlon said. «The best player on the ice scored the winning goal and that's the way it's supposed to be for them.
After a goalless first period, the Americans trailed Finland 1-0 then got three goals in a four-minute span from Dustin Brown, T.J. Oshie and Ryan Suter midway through the second.
Goalie Robert Esche made 47 saves for the U.S., as Finland outshot the Americans 49-35.
U.S. coach Ron Wilson said his team relied on Esche's «unbelievable» goaltending.
«We're just excited to actually beat Finland for once,» said Esche, who was on the U.S. side beaten by the Finns at the same stage last year. «I think we're starting to roll. We looked really good in the second half.
Wilson said he was pleased to survive against a tough opponent like Finland.
«If you were picking a European player for your team, 90 percent of coaches in the NHL would take a Finn,» said Wilson, who coaches the Toronto Maple Leafs. «They are mentally tough, they play hard and nothing seems to bother them.
Finland dominated the first period but couldn't get past Esche despite 20 shots and three power plays.
Forward Niko Kapanen forced a double save from Esche, and Mikko Lehtonen struck the crossbar on the first power play.
Finland began the second period with time left on a power play and made it count. Kapanen lurked at the right side of the goal to scoop in a loose puck for his seventh of the tournament.
But the Americans capitalized on a two-man advantage, with Brown beating Pekka Rinne on Suter's pass to the back of the crease. That shifted the momentum, and the Americans quickly scored twice more on even-strength breakaways.
Oshie scored on a pass from his St. Louis Blues teammate David Backes, and Suter sent a shot from the right side into an unguarded goal at 14:19.
Finland coach Jukka Jalonen said he was disappointed with his team's performance.
«We took two or three bad penalties and in a game like this it's a very dangerous thing to do,» Jalonen said.
Finland called timeout and made it 3-2 when Hannes Hyvonen reacted first to a rebound off Esche's mask three minutes later.
The U.S. was targeted for abuse by hostile Swiss fans in a crowd of 9,334 at PostFinance Arena.
The jeers and whistles were directed mainly at Backes, whose challenge near the boards sent a Switzerland player to the hospital in a match that eliminated the host team on Monday.
In Thursday's quarterfinals, Canada plays Latvia and Sweden faces the Czech Republic.