It only took Team USA two minutes to light the lamp in their semi-final matchup against Finland. They never looked back as they continued the onslaught and tallied an additional five goals in the first period. Team USA went on to win the contest by an impressive margin of 6-1.
Ryan Malone opened the scoring at 2:04 of the first after a miscue by Finnish goaltender Mikka Kiprusoff. The next thirteen minutes of play featured a shock-and-awe attack by the US as Patrick Kane netted two and Zach Parise, Paul Stastny and Erik Johnson also scored for the Americans.
Goaltender Ryan Miller continues his brilliant play by stopping 18 shots in two-and-a-half periods before being pulled halfway through the third. Tim Thomas let in one goal on seven shots in about 13 minutes of play as he finished the third period.
Team USA will now await the winner of Canada vs Slovakia tonight to determine who they will meet in the gold medal matchup Sunday afternoon.
On an interesting note, Mikka Kiprusoff was the center of attention a few weeks back when he said he did not want a spot on the Finnish Olympic roster unless he was guaranteed the starting position in net. Kiprusoff got his wish, and his wish backfired against USA as he let in four goals on seven shots in the first period before pulling himself in favor of Minnesota Wild netminder Niklas Backstrom.
