Olympic Ice Hockey

Canada and Sweden each came through with one-goal wins in the semifinals at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, but the challenge starts now as each team wants to leave with a gold medal.

These teams are the two most recent Olympic champions, and the countries have taken gold at four of the last five games. There are several top NHL stars on each side, and it will be these big-name players who will decide the outcome of the highly anticipated battle.

Of course, not everyone has come through with strong performances. While Drew Doughty has four goals for Canada and Erik Karlsson has eight points for Sweden, other top players have been relatively silent.

If either team wants to earn one more win, these stars have to come through with better showings in the gold-medal game.

Corey Perry, Canada

During the NHL season, Corey Perry has been one of the most aggressive players in hockey. The wing has 30 goals, 30 assists and has taken the sixth-most shots while starring for the league-leading Anaheim Ducks.

It makes sense that he would take a smaller role on this all-star team, but Perry has been relatively invisible for most of the Olympics. He is yet to score a goal and has only one assist in 73 minutes of action.

Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review questioned whether the player was even there:

Canada has gone through some scoring droughts during these games, and it needs someone to step up and get good looks at the goal. Perry is one of the more talented players on the roster; he needs to be more aggressive in the offensive zone.

Sidney Crosby, Canada

He was the hero of the last Olympics, scoring the game-winning goal in overtime to give Canada a win in the gold-medal game against the United States. However, Sidney Crosby is not taking anything for granted this time around, telling Neil Davidson of The Canadian Press:

We've got a great opportunity. I don't think Vancouver means anything right now as far as what we have to do in the next 48 hours. ...We're just trying to make sure that we've gotten better every game and hopefully we find our best here when it means the most.

Crosby has done plenty to help Canada get to this point, but he is still yet to score a goal, and that is what he will be judged on when all is said and done. If his team does not win, the blame will fall squarely on one player.

No matter what you do in sports, the question is always "what have you done for me lately?" Crosby has to come through with a strong performance against Sweden or hope that his teammates can carry the load to take the pressure away from arguably the best player in the sport.

Nicklas Backstrom, Sweden

Unlike some of the other players on this list, Nicklas Backstrom has actually been playing very well in Sochi. The Washington Capitals star entered the break with the third-most assists in the NHL and has kept that up with four more in five games.

However, it will not be easy to keep this going against Canada. The North American squad has been playing solid defense lately, making it difficult for anyone to get a quality look.

This means that Backstrom has to be a leader for Sweden and find a way to create opportunities for his teammates. Whenever the squad has an odd-man rush, he has to make sure to turn that into goals or at least clean looks at the net.

If he struggles, it could end up being a long day for Sweden on the offensive end.

Henrik Lundqvist, Sweden

When you need a goalie to come through in a big performance, Henrik Lundqvist is likely one of the top names that comes to mind. Jonas Siegel of TSN discusses the talented goaltender entering the final round:

He's known as the King and stands as perhaps the biggest obstacle to a gold repeat for Team Canada at these Olympics. Not only the face and cornerstone of the New York Rangers and one of the top goaltenders in the NHL, Lundqvist makes a strong case as one of the best Olympic goaltenders ever and a major obstacle for the Canadians in Sunday's '94 gold medal rematch with Sweden.

Lundqvist is actually in the midst of a down year for the Rangers with what would be his career-worst 2.44 goals-against average. Still, he is a leader for Sweden and is a major reason his team is one win away from a gold medal.

The only problem is that he has not seen an opponent with this much offensive talent. Canada has elite scorers all over the ice, and they keep coming out on every line.

If Lundqvist cannot stay focused for the entire 60 minutes (and possibly more), Sweden will only leave Sochi with a silver medal.

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The United States men's hockey team tied a record for the worst shutout loss in U.S. Olympic hockey history Saturday, falling to Team Finland by a score of 5-0 in the bronze-medal game. One day removed from a crushing loss to Canada that wasn't as close as the 1-0 score indicates, Team USA showed up and did nothing more.

Goaltender Jonathan Quick, who single-handedly kept the U.S. in Friday's game, was beaten five times in the second and third periods following a scoreless first frame. Fatigue was likely an issue for the Los Angeles Kings netminder as he started his third game in four days.

While Quick's performance may have been excusable under the circumstances, the same can't be said for the rest of Team USA. A roster full of NHL All-Stars was shutout for a second consecutive game, marking the first time in Olympic history that the U.S. men have been held scoreless in back-to-back games.

Surprisingly, Friday's shutout loss to Canada was Team USA's first goal-less performance at the Olympics since 1976, when the team lost 5-0 to Czechoslovakia in Innsbruck, Austria.

Of course, the previous 5-0 loss came when NHL players didn't participate in the Olympics, during an era of international hockey that was dominated by the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia. Saturday's loss came in a game where the USA was favored, with a roster featuring the likes of Zach Parise, Ryan Suter and Patrick Kane.

To be fair, the Finns—led by Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask and 43-year-old Ducks winger Teemu Selanne—are no pushover, boasting a roster full of NHL talent despite the country's relatively small population of approximately 5.5 million. In the five Winter Olympics since NHL players began participating, the Finnish team has a silver medal and three bronzes. They've yet to capture that elusive gold but always seem to slightly outperform expectations.

On paper, the Finns were probably only the fourth- or fifth-best team in Sochi. Sunday's gold-medal game between Sweden and Canada will feature arguably the two best rosters in the tournament, though both sides will be without some key players, namely Canada's John Tavares and Sweden's Henrik Zetterberg.

The U.S. actually fared well from a health perspective, but that didn't stop the team from turning in a performance that captain Parise and assistant captain Suter, both of the Minnesota Wild, referred to as embarrassing. 

Nothing lasts forever, but perhaps the legend of Teemu Selanne will.

The 43-year-old Finnish superstar who is treated like a god as opposed to a mere mortal in his home country—and rightfully so—ended his international career a winner Saturday. He scored two goals as Finland put down Team USA like an old, sick dog in a 5-0 victory in the bronze-medal game at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

It would have been easy for Selanne and his teammates to carry the disappointment of a semifinal loss Friday to rival Sweden into this game, but he would not let that happen.

"He spoke before the game," Olli Jokinen said to Puck Daddy of Yahoo Sports. "He was saying, for the younger guys this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to win the medal because there are no guarantees who is going to be here in four years and you don’t want to throw these chances away. There is not many hockey players who are going to be able to say they have an Olympic medal in their office.

"It was a message for all of us that we know how tough it is to lose the game yesterday and we knew how tough for the U.S. to lose that game (to Canada in the semifinals). Teemu wanted to make sure that the coaches, all the guys, knew that this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to win something."

It was a fitting end to Selanne's international career—assuming it is the end, because this is the guy who is in the midst of his seventh or eighth "final" NHL season with the Anaheim Ducks. 

This was Selanne's record-tying sixth appearance at the Olympics. He never won gold, but he won bronze three times (1998, 2010, 2014) and one silver (2006) while becoming the all-time leader in Olympic scoring.

In 37 career games at the Olympics, Selanne has 24 goals and 43 points. 

At age 43, when players are either enjoying retirement or are shells of their former selves, Selanne had four goals and two assists in six games. In a tournament that features the best players on the planet, he is tied for fourth in scoring.

Selanne has used a combination of fortunate genetics, a love of the game and a nearly unrivaled level of competitiveness to get where he is today. In the bronze-medal game, it was evident in his play and that of his teammates.

It's very easy to roll over during a bronze-medal game at the Olympics. After all, no one arrives with the goal of winning bronze. When the air comes out of the balloon and gold is no longer attainable, it's understandably difficult to get fired up to play a game for the right to be considered third best.

For 20 minutes, it appeared as though both Team USA and Finland truly cared about this medal. But Selanne's will proved to be stronger, and his second-period goal clearly broke the will of the Americans.

Selanne used his speed to gain a stride on 24-year-old defenseman Ryan McDonagh, one of the game's most gifted skaters, and flipped a backhand shot past goaltender Jonathan Quick to give Finland a lead it would not relinquish.

Eleven seconds later, perhaps while Team USA was dreaming of a flight back to the comforts of their beds back in America, Jussi Jokinen made it 2-0.

Just like that, the Americans were broken.

Selanne's power-play goal in the third period—perhaps his final international goal—made it 4-0 and reaffirmed the notion that he is one of the best international players to ever lace up a pair of skates.

Since his first international competition as a 17-year-old in 1988, Selanne has amassed 53 goals and 101 points in 93 games that took place at either the Olympics, World Championships, World Junior Championships, Canada Cup or World Cup.

Selanne would have preferred gold, but he still went out a winner.

“Twenty six years ago I played my first national team game and I’ve been carrying this jersey with a lot of pride and love," he said, according to Puck Daddy. "Winning this last game like this is a dream come true."

The United States men's hockey team had high hopes of reaching the podium in the 2014 Olympics. They entered the competition as one of the tournament's deepest teams and flourished immediately.

During the preliminary rounds, Team USA showcased their prowess on both offense and defense, scoring 15 goals and allowing just four in three games played.

The playoff round started nicely for the Americans as well. They dominated the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals by a score of 5-2.

That's when the wheels fell off.

In the semifinal matchup against rival Canada, the United States failed to score a goal in an Olympic match for the first time since 1976 as the Canadians mustered a 1-0 victory.

Instead of rallying and learning from a poor showing against the Canadians, the United States continued its same bad habits on Saturday, as once again the Americans were held scoreless after being blown out by Finland 5-0.

Linda Cohn of ESPN elaborated on Team USA's meltdown with this tweet:

The sudden decline of the United States men's hockey team was completely unexpected. After coasting through earlier matchups, the team began to fall apart in all phases of the game—and it saved its worst for last.

Despite trading similar offensive statistics—the Finns took 29 shots on goal against Team USA's 27—the Americans could not find a way through a Finland defense that had been exposed at times throughout the tournament.

After an exciting scoreless first period, the United States and goaltender Jonathan Quick began to fall apart. Quick stopped all eight shots on goal during the first period. However, he allowed five goals on the 21 shots that followed.

Quick's save percentage of just .827 was by far the lowest of his performances in Sochi.

Early in the second period, Finland players Teemu Selanne and Jussi Jokinen started the scoring frenzy after finding the back of the net just 11 seconds apart.

Selanne is set to retire and Steve Mears of the NHL Network tweeted his appreciation for the legend:

Once Juuso Hietanen scored and put the Finns up by a score of 3-0, it looked as though Team USA just wanted to get off the ice. Two additional goals later in the third period just added insult to injury as the United States fell by a score of 5-0.

It's not as though the United States did not have any chances during the matchup. After all, Patrick Kane took two penalty shots during the game but was unable to capitalize. Also, Cam Fowler and Kevin Shattenkirk combined for eight shots but they came away empty as well.

The complete collapse of the American team was a drastic one. After scoring 20 goals in their first four games of the tournament, they failed to record a single score in their last six periods played. Defensively, the United States allowed six goals in its first four games and another six in its final two.

After such a promising start, the United States men's team was simply unable to put it together when it mattered most. After earning a silver medal in Vancouver's 2010 Olympic Games, this team will leave Sochi empty-handed.

This lifeless performance from the Americans was an unfortunate way to end the Winter Olympics for these athletes.

Despite missing out on a medal, head coach Dan Bylsma issued this statement after the game, according to a tweet from USA Hockey:

Unfortunately, the United States men's hockey team will have to wait until 2018 in Pyeongchang to make another run at an elusive Olympic medal.

No gold. No silver. And now, no bronze.

A disappointing 2014 Sochi Olympics somehow found a way to become more so for Team USA on Saturday.

Finland blitzed Team USA for two goals in 11 seconds during the second period and cruised to a 5-0 victory in the bronze-medal game, sending the Americans home without a medal after winning silver at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. 

Once Finland scored those two goals, it was as if Team USA would have preferred to have been anywhere else in the world. After being outclassed by Canada in a 1-0 loss in the semifinal on Friday, Team USA showed up for the first period against Finland, but checked out once things went wrong.

It was an embarrassing loss for a team that had such great expectations.

"I think it started yesterday," Team USA captain Zach Parise said during a postgame interview on NBCSN. "We didn't show up to play a tough team in Canada and lost that game. And just today, once we gave up that first goal, it kind of deflated. They played like they had something to win, and we just shut it down.

"It's kind of disappointing, a little bit embarrassed for what happened, especially today. It wasn't a good effort by us."

This was a team some believed was good enough to win gold in Sochi and bring an end to a 34-year gold drought for the Americans. The yearly reminders of the 1980 Miracle on Ice team in the form of Mike Eruzione telling the same stories he’s told every year, like an over-served uncle at Thanksgiving talking about the time he scored four touchdowns in a high school football game no one wants to hear anymore, would fade into the shadows.

Instead, on the 34-year anniversary of that 4-3 win against the Soviet Union at Lake Placid, N.Y., Team USA showed just how far it is from Olympic gold. 

It’s probably going to take a miracle for NHL players to participate in the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, so this was very likely the last chance at gold for this group of Americans.

It hardly matters. Unless the United States annexes Canada in the next four years, Team USA won’t even be the top team on its own continent. 

How did it go so wrong in Sochi?

It started well enough. A 7-1 win against Slovakia appeared to send a message to the rest of the field that Team USA was a team on a mission, and that the questions about general manager David Poile fielding a roster lacking in offense wasn't going to be an issue after all.

But as the tournament progressed, the victory became more and more hollow. Slovakia exited without a win in four games, and Team USA was dominated by the tournament’s best teams.

T.J. Oshie’s shootout heroics against Russia in the group stage won’t soon be forgotten, but it distracted from a deeper problem that could not be ignored as Finland buried the Americans in the bronze-medal game.

Against Russia, Canada and Finland, Team USA had zero even-strength goals. 

Patrick Kane missed on two penalty shots against Finland and had zero goals in six games.

“No excuses,” Kane said to the Chicago Sun-Times' Mark Lazerus. “I wasn’t good enough. I wasn’t good enough to help the team win a medal. Obviously, I was expected to do a lot more. When you come over here and put zero goals and four assists in six games, that’s not the numbers you want to see. Definitely disappointing.”

For a team that believes it’s on the same level as the world’s hockey powers, Team USA looked more like a team that just picked up the sport a few weeks ago.

Or, more accurately, it looked more like a team whose country only discovered hockey in 1980.

It’s tough to peg the defense with much of the blame for this medal-less trip to Sochi. An 11-second hiccup from Ryan Suter and Ryan McDonagh against Finland is hardly enough to impugn the overall performance of the group that held Russia to two goals and Canada to one.

But when you’re a squad like Team USA where the margin for error is razor-thin, one mistake in judgment can be the difference between playing for gold and playing—if that’s what you can call what took place Saturday—for bronze.

It became clear as the tournament progressed that Brooks Orpik was miscast on this team. He’s tough and physical, but he simply did not have the foot speed to compete on the larger ice against the world’s best players. Canada’s one goal in the semifinal game was the result of Orpik being a stride late to cover Jamie Benn, and it cost Team USA in a game it didn’t deserve to win anyway.

Would Keith Yandle have been better suited for this team? It was hard to argue against that when the roster was unveiled Jan. 1, and it’s even harder to argue against now. 

An Olympic tournament requires a lot of things to align in order to win gold. Sometimes there are unlucky bounces or unfortunate matchups or a hot goaltender ends your tournament quicker than you deserve. 

That wasn’t the case for Team USA in Sochi. Canada was better in the semifinal and deserved to win. Finland was better and deserved to win, especially after Team USA clearly packed it in after 40 minutes and spent the final 20 minutes taking enough undisciplined penalties to make the 1970s Philadelphia Flyers shake their heads.

Team USA has taken a lot of strides forward with its development program since 1996, but the rest of the world hasn't been standing still. If there's anything to take from Sochi, it's that the Americans haven't closed the gap nearly as much as some believed.

If Team USA wanted to win gold in a future Olympics with NHL players, it may have to take, well, a miracle.

Dave Lozo covers the NHL for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @DaveLozo.

The United States men's hockey team hoped to end its run at the 2014 Winter Olympics on a high note, but the Americans went out with a whimper in a 5-0 loss to Finland in the bronze-medal game in Sochi, Russia.  

Finland clearly received a huge boost from the return of Boston Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask to the lineup, as he started between the pipes and registered a 27-save shutout.

Rask missed Finland's semifinal contest against Sweden on Friday due to an illness, and his absence very well could have cost Finland a shot at the gold medal, but he was a factor on Saturday.

Finland was also bolstered by the play of 43-year-old captain Teemu Selanne, who netted two goals in what was his final Olympic game.

After the United States' disappointing loss to Canada in the semifinal, there was some concern regarding Team USA's motivation entering the bronze-medal game. Finland was buzzing initially and generated plenty of chances, however goalie Jonathan Quick's form carried over from Friday's contest.

The Americans were able to weather an early storm and ultimately controlled the pace of play for much of the period. The best scoring opportunity came nearly 14 minutes into the opening frame when Finnish defenseman Kimmo Timonen was penalized for shooting a broken stick toward the puck.

That resulted in a penalty shot, but Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane hit the side of the net despite seemingly having Rask down and out.

It appeared as though American head coach Dan Bylsma initially intended to let T.J. Oshie take the penalty shot after his heroics in the shootout against Russia, but he was told that he had to choose a skater who was on the ice at the time of the infraction, per Chuck Gormley of CSNWashington.com:

Even after the miss, Team USA continued to mount offensive pressure, which was virtually nonexistent against Canada. Another great chance was generated late in the period when Montreal Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty took a long lead pass from San Jose Sharks forward Joe Pavelski, but he missed the net on a breakaway.

The United States and Finland entered the locker room with the score tied 0-0, but not before Toronto Maple Leafs forward James van Riemsdyk took a puck to the throat in the closing.

Luckily, JVR appeared to shake it off quickly, so both Team USA and the Maple Leafs were able to avoid disaster.

Unfortunately for the Americans, disaster of a different kind struck early in the second period. All signs pointed to Team USA having all of the momentum heading into the middle frame, but perhaps Finnish head coach Erkka Westerlund delivered an inspired speech to his team in the locker room.

The Finns came out flying just like they did to start the game, but this time they were rewarded handsomely.

Selanne, who is the all-time leading scorer in Olympic play, added another goal to his impressive total by putting Finland on top 1-0 in his final Olympic game.

At 43 years of age, Selanne has arguably been Finland's best skater, and his Olympic experience clearly seemed to be a factor in his huge goal.

The Finns were quite energized by Selanne's marker, and that became evident 11 seconds later when Jussi Jokinen took advantage of an American defensive lapse to make it 2-0. That resulted in Bylsma attempting to rally the troops with a timeout, per WGR 550:

That timeout settled things down a bit, and the United States very nearly cut the lead in half. Kane stole the puck from Finland's Leo Komarov and took a slash on a breakaway. He was awarded yet another penalty shot.

The snake-bitten Kane couldn't buy a break, however, as his second penalty-shot attempt was clanged off the post:

Team USA desperately tried to get on the board in the closing seconds of the period, and it nearly did, but a deflection hit the side of the net. A number of American players celebrated, but the replay clearly showed that the puck didn't go in.

After failing to score against Canada and through two periods against Finland, it was wishful thinking more than anything on the United States' part.

The Americans entered the closing stanza in a less-than-ideal situation but still had a chance to mount a comeback. Team USA looked flat for much of the period, though, while Finland played motivated hockey in an effort to close things out.

Suomi took advantage of a power play six minutes in when defenseman Juuso Hietanen put a slap shot through a maze of bodies and beat Quick:

That basically put the game away, but the Finns were far from satisfied. The Americans took yet another penalty minutes later, and Selanne made his Olympic swan song even sweeter by netting his second goal of the game:

Fittingly, Selanne's goal was followed up by a tally from 19-year-old defenseman Olli Maatta to put Finland up 5-0. If Selanne represents Finland's past success in hockey, then Maatta is most definitely one of the players who will make an impact on Finnish hockey in the future.

The United States' loss comes as a disappointment to many, but perhaps nobody feels emptier than Bylsma. Even after Team USA fell to Canada, Bylsma was adamant that his team would regroup and perform well in the bronze-medal game, according to Bob Kraviz of USA Today.

"We're not coming home with nothing,'' Bylsma said.

Had the United States found a way to win bronze, it would have marked the first time that the Americans medaled in consecutive Olympics since 1956 and 1960. Anything short of a gold was going to be tough to swallow regardless, but at least bronze would have been a solid consolation prize to build upon.

Of course, players on the U.S. team were disappointed with the result. 

Patrick Kane voiced his displeasure to Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times:

Meanwhile, Zach Parise was clearly frustrated while talking to Sarah Kwak of Sports Illustrated:

It wasn't for a lack of trying on Team USA's part, but the scoring touch simply went away in the final two games. The United States had plenty of good scoring looks against Finland, unlike in the Canada game, but the twine proved elusive.

Saturday's loss will take a long time to get over, but the future is bright for Team USA. Assuming NHL players are allowed to compete in the Olympics come 2018, much of the American defense will be firmly in its prime, the forward corps should remain largely intact and the goaltending situation promises to be strong as well.

Finland likely had a gold-medal mentality entering the Olympics, but with key players such as Mikko Koivu and Valtteri Filppula missing due to injury, a bronze medal was a spectacular result.

This marks Finland's third straight Olympics with a medal, and while it has been unable to top the podium, a legacy of Olympic excellence is being built.

The Finns won't have Selanne on the ice in four years, but with Rask continuing to improve and young skaters like Mikael Granlund and Aleksander Barkov destined for superstardom, Finland should remain among the elite hockey countries in the world.

Follow @MikeChiari on Twitter

The soaring Canada and Sweden will take center ice in Sochi's gold-medal battle to conclude the 2014 Winter Olympics.

It may not be the slate U.S. fans wanted, and the hosting nation can't be thrilled to miss the medal games altogether. But Canada and Sweden are two deserving entrants heading into the final tilt with a full head of steam. Each country powered through its opening five bouts without a loss blemishing its record.

After Canada disposed of the U.S. and Sweden rallied to top Finland, the two undefeated clubs will meet with gold on the line. Canada can repeat its 2010 title and sweep both hockey events, while Sweden can capture its second title in the past three Winter Games.

While injures to Canada's John Tavares and Sweden's Henrik Zetterberg rob the match of some star power, several NHL stars will still represent their homes in a battle for hockey supremacy. These are some of the biggest stars on tap.

When: Sunday, February 23 at 7 a.m. ET

Where: Bolshoy Ice Dome, Sochi, Russia

TV: NBC

Live Stream: NBCOlympics.com

Sidney Crosby, Canada

On paper, Sidney Crosby is not enjoying his best stretch of hockey during the Olympics.

He has yet to score a goal and has collected two assists, a modest total for a superstar of his caliber. Yet his unselfish play has helped fuel Canada to the finals, and his teammates appreciate his efforts even without the gaudy numbers to back it up.

Patrice Bergeron, who has been a pivotal part of Canada' run, spoke highly of his Olympic teammate to CTV Atlantic News' Neil Davidson.

"I thought last game he was tremendous as well," Bergeron said. "But he's the best player in the world. I'm just happy and fortunate to be playing with him, trying to help him as much as I can."

For as well as Canada has played this tournament, it has tallied just four goals in the last three games. While intangibles are nice, tangible points from Crosby—like the goal he scored in overtime to win the gold-medal bout four years ago—would surely help out his country.

Given his opponent, points will come at a premium on Sunday.

Henrik Lundqvist, Sweden

For Sweden to pull off the upset, Henrik Lundqvist will need to have himself a terrific day shielding the net.

Jonathan Quick attempted to carry the United States to victory in the semifinals, but the one shot out of 37 he failed to corral proved one too many. As Canada's front line dominated, Quick's quick reflexes were the only thing keeping Team USA alive.

Sweden will need a similar effort from its goalie, New York Rangers star Henrik Lundqvist. So far, the 31-year-old has done everything in his power to keep the Swedes afloat.

Through five games, opponents have mustered six goals against Sweden's squad. Against Finland, the three-time All-Star notched 25 saves, shutting the door after surrendering the game's first score. 

Sweden's stout defense deserves credit as well, but Canada is bound to get its chances with Crosby and Bergeron leading the fold. The final barrier blocking Canada's hunt for gold, Lundqvist must deliver a rousing effort on the big stage.

Carey Price, Canada

Canada has a pretty good goalie on its side as well.

Montreal Canadians' star Carey Price won the starting job over veteran Roberto Luongo, who guarded the net during the 2010 Olympics. The 26-year-old has rewarded coach Mike Babcock for making the tough decision, allowing just three goals in Sochi. 

The National Post's Bruce Arthur utilized Twitter to provide some succinct analysis.

He has been tested throughout the season, ranking second in the NHL with 1,350 saves and four shutouts. With no room for error in the semifinals, he kept the U.S. off the scoreboard for the full 60 minutes during a 1-0 victory.

If the big-time goalie can muster up one more big-time performance, Canada will solidify its hockey dominance with another gold medal.

After a scoreless first period, Finland scored two quick goals in the second period and battered Team USA in the bronze-medal game Saturday, winning 5-0.

In what is likely his final international competition—because he has been known to change his mind—43-year-old Teemu Selanne scored twice to give the Finns bronze for the second consecutive Olympics. Goaltender Tuukka Rask made XX saves after missing the semifinal game with an illness.

Team USA had a solid first period and the effort looked like it was there. Ryan Kesler got himself in front of a puck that was headed for an empty net to prevent a goal. But Finland scored two goals in 11 seconds during the second period and Team USA never recovered.

Team USA had a chance to win medals at consecutive Olympics for the first time since 1956 and 1960, but instead laid an egg to conclude the tournament.

Here are the final grades for Team USA in this contest, which as you may expect, are quite bad.

Final analysis

James van Riemsdyk-Joe Pavelski-Phil Kessel: This group was practically nonexistent in this game. Van Riemsdyk played 7:13 in the game and was glued to the bench for almost the entire second and third periods. Kessel had zero shots.

Zach Parise-Ryan Kesler-Patrick Kane: Kane has two penalty shots in this game and came up empty on both of them. This line had chances, but decided not to show up in the third period. Kane took two frustration penalties in the third period.

Dustin Brown-David Backes-Ryan Callahan: Just an absolute mess. Brown basically did not play after the second Finnish goal and this line was out there for both of those rapid-fire goals. 

Max Pacioretty-Paul Stastny-T.J. Oshie/Blake Wheeler: This line was nothing spectacular either, but they didn't cost Team USA this game.

Ryan Suter-Ryan McDonagh: A train wreck in the middle period and the Americans never recovered.

Cam Fowler-Kevin Shattenkirk: One of the few bright spots for the Americans. They combined for eight shots.

Brooks Orpik-John Carlson/Justin Faulk: You can't hang any of the goals on Orpik, who wasn't on the ice for any of the goals against at even strength.

Jonathan Quick: He made some tough saves, but Selanne's first goal was stoppable and he missed it. There wasn't much he could do on the other goals, but this was perhaps a game Ryan Miller should've started.

Special teams: Tragic. The power play did nothing and the penalty kill allowed two goals in the third period when Team USA was more interested in the flight home than staging a comeback.