Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Finland sticks with Rask, doesn’t alter lines

Sochi Olympics Ice Hockey Men

Finland goaltender Tuukka Rask watches play down ice from his goal against Austria in the first period of a men’s ice hockey game at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Thursday, Feb. 13, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Julio Cortez

Finnish goaltender Tuukka Rask and their current line combinations frustrated Team Canada and forced their round robin game to overtime. The Finns are hoping that they can do at least slightly better against Russia.

Rask will stay between the pipes for their quarterfinals match today and the lines that faced Canada will remain intact, according to CBC’s Elliotte Friedman. The only change is that Kari Lehtonen will serve as Rask’s understudy instead of Antti Niemi.

While Rask was able to hold his own against the Canadians, he got off to a rough start in the 2014 Winter Games by allowing four goals on 20 shots against Austria.

The Finns certainly have their work cut out for them when they take on the Russians at home, but Finland can take some comfort in its history of success against them. The Russians have not been able to defeat Finland in an Olympic game since 1998. In 2006, Finland beat Russia 4-0 in the semifinals and in 2002, Finland earned a 3-1 victory over the Russians in the round robin.

Follow @RyanDadoun