BEIJING — Finland ended the Olympic hockey tournament with a historic upset, as its men’s team won gold for the first time on the strength of a fiercely contested 2-1 victory over the Russian Olympic Committee on Sunday at National Indoor Stadium.
Hannes Bjorninen’s tip of a shot by Marko Anttila 31 seconds into the third period proved the difference as the Finns outplayed the favored Russians, who were able to build a roster around players in their domestic Kontinental Hockey League after the NHL decided not to allow its players to represent their homelands here. Finland, considered a hockey power for the last three decades, had won Olympic silver medals in 1988 and 2006 and won bronze medals in 1994, 1998, 2010 and 2014.
Four years ago at Pyeongchang the Russian team — then known as Olympic Athletes from Russia — prevailed over Germany in the gold medal game. Coached in Beijing by former NHL standouts Alexei Zhamnov and Sergei Fedorov, the renamed Russian team was favored to repeat, but Finland was the better team all-around. Finland goaltender Harri Sateri made 29 saves on Sunday against a formidable Russian offense.
