Finland Cuts Down Powerful Russia, 3-1

Russia became the latest hockey superpower to learn a lesson of international play that has been taught repeatedly in recent years.

Never forget about Finland.

Captain Teemu Selanne scored the first of three consecutive goals and Finland surprised Russia, 3-1, Monday to clinch second place in its Olympic hockey group.

Mikko Eloranta and Jere Lehtinen scored for the Finns, who continued their long tradition of countering their talent disadvantages with workmanlike play, conservative defense and flashes of offensive brilliance, mostly from Selanne.

After being dominated in the final two periods, the mighty Russians were knocked to third place in the group. Once again, Finland has become a surprise medal contender.

“We let other teams do the commentating and the handicapping and the head games,” defenseman Teppo Numminen said. “We don’t do that. We just play, and not worry about what happens next. We know we’ve got nothing to lose.”

Finland, the only nation to win a medal in each of the last two Olympics and four World Championships, rebounded from a 6-0 loss to the United States in its opener to win two in a row.

Finland’s bronze performance at Nagano was overshadowed by the Czech Republic’s heroics and disappointing performances by the United States and Canada. Given the absence of star Saku Koivu, who’s battling cancer, not much was expected of the current team--particularly after the blowout loss Friday.

But Finland’s patient, defense-oriented style produced strong games against Belarus and Russia. Finland also got strong goaltending from Jani Hurme, who stopped 25 shots and held on against a Russian rally in the final minutes.

“I think we wanted to win this more than those guys,” Selanne said. “They’re pretty scary with that lineup, so it was good they didn’t show up tonight.”

Pavel Bure scored for the Russians (1-1-1), who have scored only three goals in their last six periods despite a high-powered roster that includes seven players who have scored at least 29 goals in an NHL season.

Sweden 7, Germany 1--Markus Naslund scored two goals, and captain Mats Sundin had a goal and two assists as Sweden, which had already clinched a top quarterfinal seeding, rolled to its third consecutive victory.

Backup goalie Johan Hedberg stopped 19 shots, losing his shutout bid during a power play with 1:59 left, as Sweden prepared for its quarterfinal match against Belarus with a performance that often resembled a scrimmage for the smooth Swedes.

Germany, 0-3 in the final round, will face the United States in the quarterfinals.