Olympic Hockey Schedule 2022: Early Preview for Finland vs. ROC

Matt Slocum/Associated Press

Only one team has gotten through the men’s ice hockey tournament at the 2022 Winter Olympics with an unbeaten record: Finland. And now, the Finns are one win away from the first gold medal in their history.

After notching a 2-0 victory over Slovakia in the semifinals early Friday morning, Finland advanced to the gold medal game, where it will face the Russian Olympic Committee in the final contest of the Winter Olympics in Beijing. The winner will capture the gold, while the loser will be awarded the silver.

The ROC secured its berth in the gold medal game by beating Sweden in the semifinals on Friday morning. The Russians notched a 2-1 victory by outlasting the Swedes in an eight-round shootout.

Here’s a look at the remaining schedule for the men’s ice hockey tournament at the 2022 Winter Games, followed by an early preview of this year’s gold medal game.

Upcoming Schedule

Saturday Feb. 19

Bronze Medal Game: Slovakia vs. Sweden, 8:10 a.m. ET, CNBC

Gold Medal Game: Finland vs. Russian Olympic Committee, 11:10 p.m. ET, USA Network

Coverage can be streamed live on Peacock, the NBC Sports app and NBCOlympics.com

Gold Medal Game Preview

No team has been more impressive at the 2022 Winter Games than Finland. Entering the gold medal game, the Finns are 5-0 and haven’t faced much adversity in reaching the final hockey contest that will take place in Beijing. And that’s especially been the case in the medal round.

After notching victories over Slovakia, Latvia and Sweden in the preliminary round, Finland went into the medal round as one of only two unbeaten teams. The Finns then notched a 5-1 victory over Switzerland in the quarterfinals, advancing to a semifinal matchup against Slovakia.

Finland had already notched a 6-2 win over Slovakia earlier in the Olympics, but the semifinal contest was much more competitive. However, the Finns’ defense completely shut down the Slovaks, as all 27 of Slovakia’s shots on goal were stopped by Finland goaltender Harri Sateri, who led his team to a 2-0 win.

Sakari Manninen scored a first-period goal for Finland in the semis, then Harri Pesonen sealed the victory by scoring a goal with 39 seconds to go in the game.

“I knew coming into the Olympics that we’re going to have a really good team, solid team, veteran team, a lot of experienced guys,” Pesonen said, per Steve Keating of Reuters. “But you know, every tournament is kind of a mystery how it goes and how it ends but I’m definitely happy and what a great opportunity for us to play for the brightest medal.”

Although the Finns have won two silvers and four bronzes in their Olympic history, they’ve never captured the gold. The last time they had made it to the gold medal game was in 2006, when they lost 3-2 to Sweden and had to settle for the silver.

Now, Finland must try to take down the Russian Olympic Committee, which many considered the favorites to win the gold at the start of the Winter Games. The ROC went 2-1 during the preliminary round, then defeated Denmark in the quarterfinals to open the medal round.

In the semifinals, the Russians needed a shootout to decide their competitive matchup against Sweden. Both teams scored twice in the first five rounds of the shootout, before Arseni Gritsyuk’s goal in the eighth round lifted the ROC to victory.

The Russians are looking to win the gold for the second straight Winter Olympics, as they defeated Germany in the gold medal game in 2018.

This will be the first time that Finland and the Russian Olympic Committee have faced off in Beijing. And it’s not a surprise that this is the gold medal game matchup, as both teams were expected to have strong showings at the Winter Games.

With how well both teams have been playing, the Finns and Russians should deliver an entertaining matchup, and either one could potentially be leaving Beijing with the gold.