The ice hockey teams of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROK) and Finland have reached the final of the Beijing Winter Olympics.

The ROK team defeated Sweden 2-1 (0-0, 1-0, 0-1) after a penalty shoot-out on Friday and is thus playing for gold again four years after beating Germany 4-3 in the 2018 final.

Finland, second in the World Cup, beat Slovakia 2-0 (1-0, 0-0, 1-0) in the first semi-final, who beat the German team 4-0 in Beijing in the quarter-finals tournament had thrown.

The final is scheduled for Sunday (05.10 CET in the FAZ live ticker for the Olympics, on ARD and on Eurosport).

Already on Saturday (2.10 p.m. CET in the FAZ live ticker for the Olympics, on ZDF and on Eurosport) Sweden and Slovakia will play for bronze.

In a close match between two hockey powerhouses, the ROK team was unlucky to hit the post in the first period and then took the lead in the second period after just 15 seconds of play.

Anton Slepyschew first prevailed against his opponent on the rink, then rounded goalkeeper Lars Johansson and pushed in.

Only Sweden's captain Anton Lander was able to overcome the previously stable defense of the ROK team with a scoop goal (47th).

Gritsyuk transformed

Sweden then pushed on, but another goal was not scored even in the ten-minute extra time with only three field players each.

In the penalty shoot-out, Arseni Gritsjuk then converted the 16th attempt to the enthusiastically celebrated victory of the ROK team.

In the previous semi-final, Sakari Manninen (16th) and Harri Pesonen (60th) scored for the favored Finns against Slovakia.

Unlike the 6:2 in the preliminary round, the northern Europeans found it difficult this time against their defensively strong opponents.

In the end, however, it was enough for the first entry into the Olympic final since 2006 in Turin.

At that time, the Finns had missed the gold medal after a 2:3 defeat against Sweden.

Since the separation from the Czech Republic, the Slovaks have not had their own Olympic medal.