Top international KHL players after the Olympics’ quarterfinals
Lucas Wallmark and Teemu Hartikainen keep on scoring, Peter Cehlarik propels Slovakia’s success. KHL.ru presents the best international players of the first two days of the elimination stage.
Lucas Wallmark
CSKA, Team Sweden
Key fact: game-winning goal in the quarterfinals against Team Canada.
The Swedish forward has been one of the best overall players in this year’s tournament, and he showed it once again in the game against Team Canada. With the teams tied at zero – and less than ten minutes to go – the deceptive forward stole the puck in the offensive zone and exploded a shoot at Matt Tomkins’ crease that was deflected before ending its course right under the crossbar. The Canadians tried to tie things up, but former Ak Bars and Lokomotiv’s forward Anton Lander put it in the empty net – for the first time since 2006, Team Canada will not medal at the Olympic Games. SKA’s Lars Johansson posted a 22-save shutout for another strong performance, while his teammate Oscar Fantenberg ended the night with a plus-2 differential. Team Sweden will face Team ROC in the semifinals on Feb 18.
Peter Cehlarik
Avangard, Team Slovakia
Key fact: game-winning shutout in the quarterfinals against Team USA
The Slovaks were the underdog in the game against the Americans, and they were down 1:2 late in the third period, but a last gasp goal by Torpedo’s Marek Hrivik sent the game to OT. With no goals scored in extra time, the teams needed a shootout to determinate the winner – and Peter Cehlarik had the only tally of the series, gifting Slovakia a trip to the semis for the first time since the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Earlier, Cehlarik had a goal and an assist when Slovakia downed Team Germany in the qualification game on Monday. The Avangard forward is currently tied at second place in Team Slovakia’s goal race, trailing only 17-years-old Juraj Slafkovsky. Dinamo Minsk’s Patrik Rybar had a 33-save performance against the Americans – including a key save in the dying seconds of the OT period – and had his first shutout of the tournament against Team Germany. The Slovaks will face Team Finland in the semifinals on Feb 18.
Finland
Salavat Yulaev, Team Finland
Key fact: scored again in the quarterfinals against Team Switzerland.
Hartikainen keeps on being Team Finland’s top scorer, with 6 (3+3) points in just four games, tied with his clubmate Sakari Manninen. The Salavat Yulaev’s forward had another striking performance in the quarters against the Swiss, tallying his third goal of the tournament in the third period. The Leijonat had a strong show against Team Switzerland, controlling the game since the first faceoff and controlling the pace of the game after being up by two goals after the first horn. Hartikainen and Manninen are forming a tremendous one-two punch for the Finns, and they will be incredibly hard to contain for the Slovaks on Friday. With Team Finland getting to the semis after a disappointing quarterfinals loss in 2018 in South Korea by the hand of Team Canada, other KHL players were on the lookout, with Vityaz’s Miro Aaltonen, SKA’s Mikko Lehtonen, and Jokerit’s Marko Anttila and Iiro Pakarinen also scoring for the team. On goal, Sibir’s Harri Sateri had 33 saves.
The 2022 Beijing Olympics ice hockey tournament will return on Friday with the semifinals. First, Team Finland will take on Team Slovakia, then, Team ROC will face Team Sweden. The winners will advance to the finals, scheduled for Sunday, Feb 20, while the Bronze Medal game plays a day earlier, on Saturday.
