For those who counted Finland out of the Olympic men's hockey tournament after its lopsided loss to the United States: hold on just a moment.
The Finnish aren't finished yet.
Nobody officially is, but Finland is entering Wednesday's do-or-die quarterfinals on a roll. The Finns, who crushed Belarus Saturday, dominated Russia after the first period to win their second game in a row, 3-1 at The Peaks Ice Arena on Monday.
"Nobody is really counting on us," said Finland superstar Teemu Selanne, whose country has won bronze medals the last two Olympics. "We have no pressure. We just have to play these games as well as we can and have fun."
They didn't do that against the United States, resulting in what Selanne called an "embarrassing" 6-0 loss Friday. Finland felt the pressure after the first period Monday when it trailed 1-0 after a Pavel Bure goal and was outshot 10-2.
"We played the first period a little bit like the whole game against USA," said Sami Kapanen, who had two assists. "We were watching, and you can't have a good game like that."
Finland bounced back with consecutive goals by Selanne, Mikko Eloranta and Jere Lehtinen to secure the second seed from Group D.
The Finns will take on Canada on Wednesday in a tough quarterfinal matchup. Russia gets the Czech Republic.
SWEDEN 7, GERMANY 1: Marcus Naslund scored two goals, including Sweden's first, in a 7-1 final-round men's Olympic hockey romp over Germany at The Peaks Ice Arena in Provo.
The Swedes, who play a single-elimination quarterfinal game against Belarus on Wednesday, rested starter Tommy Salo and went instead with backup Johan Hedberg, who stopped 19 shots.
Germany, which faced the United States in quarterfinal play Wednesday, spoiled Hedberg's shutout bid when Dennis Seidenberg scored with one minute and 59 seconds left.
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