The men's ice hockey gold medal was won by the Finns over the Russian Olympic Committee on Sunday in Beijing.
31 seconds into the third period, Bjorninen scored the game-winning goal. The ROC opened the scoring in the first period, but he added an assist on Ville Pokka's goal in the second period that tied the score.
This was the 18th Olympic men's ice hockey tournament for Finland. In 1988 and 2006 the nation won silver and bronze, and in 1994 and 2010 they won gold.
The team is great. Great effort. It wasn't easy for us, but we found a way to win.
Sateri made 16 saves, but the offensive attack and forecheck of the Finns won the day. After the first two periods, the game was tied at 21-21, but in the third period, the game was tied at 31-31. Russia was looking for a second straight gold medal in men's hockey.
Russian athletes were not allowed to wear their flag or Russian symbol on their uniforms because of the World Anti-Doping Agency ban. Russian athletes won the gold medal at the Olympics in South Korea.
The ROC scored on its second shot. With Bjorninen in the box for a high-sticking penalty, forward Mikhail Grigorenko used a perfectly set screen from teammate Pavel Karnaukhov to beat Sateri for a 1-0 lead just 7:17 into the game. Nikita got an assist for his sixth point.
The Finns tied the score early in the second period. Defenseman Ville Pokka sent a shot from just inside the blue line that went through the legs of Nikita Nesterov and past goalie Ivan Fedotov to tie the score at 1.
The Finns took a lead in the third period. Fedotov gave the puck to Bjorninen. The ROC had a forechecking clinic in its own zone. The forward sent a wrist shot from high in the zone after collecting the puck. It was the first lead for Finns.
Among the former NHL players who won gold for the Finns were forwards Valtteri Filppula and Leo Komarov, as well as defensemen Sami Vatanen and Mikko Lehtonen.
NHL players did not participate in the Winter Games in Beijing. The NHL decided to opt out of Beijing due to a material change to the regular-season schedule because of the COVID-19 postponements.
The other Olympic teams made history in Beijing. Slovakia won the bronze medal in men's hockey, defeating Sweden by four goals.
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