NEW YORK, 12 September 2004 — Saku Koivu scored the winner with less than four minutes to go, giving Finland a surprise 2-1 victory over the United States in the semifinals of the World Cup of Hockey at St. Paul, Minnesota on Friday.
Koivu was left unattended at the side of the goal to slip a shot off a pass from Ossi Vaananen past Robert Esche at 16:06 of the third period.
Finland now face the winners of the game between Canada and the Czech Republic in the final in Toronto on Tuesday. The Americans led 1-0 after two periods but the Finns scored twice in the third to produce one of the biggest wins in their ice hockey history.
“This was huge,” Koivu told reporters. “The reality was that before the game we were the underdogs. But we played a very solid defensive game and we were able to create some scoring chances as well. We’ve done a lot but there’s one more step we can achieve and we’ll see Tuesday night.”
It was the first victory ever by Finland over the US at this event, which was launched as the Canada Cup in 1976. The Finns have won a world ice hockey championship but this is the first time they have a chance to win a competition with all the world’s best players taking part.
After a scoreless first period that featured only seven combined shots by the two teams, Doug Weight put the Americans ahead on a powerplay at 12:57 of the second.
Weight took a cross-ice pass from Scott Gomez and fired a shot past Miikka Kiprusoff. But Olli Jokinen tied the game for Finland with a wrist shot from the slot off a big rebound at 5:04 of the third period.
The Americans won the last World Cup played in 1996 and were one of the favorites this time. The Finns, however, played a disciplined defensive game and held the US offense in check most of the night.
“They got a couple of chances in the third period and they went into the net,” Weight said.
“We held them to 13 or 14 shots and I thought we worked our game plan. We just came up short and it’s pretty disappointing.”
Kiprusoff made 16 saves in goal for the Finns while Esche had 10 stops for the Americans.
Sweden’s Sedin Twins Re-Sign With NHL Canucks
In Vancouver, Canada, the Vancouver Canucks re-signed 23-year-old Swedish twin brothers Daniel and Henrik Sedin here Friday as the National Hockey League moved closer to a labor shutdown.
Daniel Sedin, a left wing, appeared in all 82 games for Vancouver last season, setting career highs with 36 assists and 54 points. Selected second overall in the 1999 draft, he has 61 goals and 90 assists in 315 career games.
