SOCHI, Russia – Russia has crashed out of the Olympic Games ice hockey tournament, slumping to a 3-1 defeat to Finland in the quarter-finals.
It was a second successive Olympic Games loss at the last-eight stage for Russia who were booed off the Bolshoi Ice Palace rink by their shell-shocked fans.
Teemu Selanne and Juhamatti Aaltonen scored consecutive first period goals for Finland.
They took advantage of two slow-footed Russian defencemen to erase a one goal Russian lead and make it 2-1 for Finland. Mikael Granlund also scored for the Finns.
Finland also beat Russia 4-0 the last time they met in the Olympics, winning 4-0 at the 2006 Turin Games.
Russian TV didn’t hold back in its immediate post-match hyperbole on Wednesday.
“Dear friends, life has not come to an end. But this is a severe and annoying defeat,” said the commentator on state television Channel One.
“We are all crying and we are crying with you too. We are hoping for revenge. Maybe one day there will be revenge. But maybe not with this team.”
