SOCHI, February 21 (R-Sport) – Jamie Benn scored the only goal of the game to fire Canada past the United States 1-0 on Friday and into the men's hockey final at the Sochi Olympics.
In Sunday’s gold medal game at the Bolshoy Ice Dome, the Canadians will to retain their 2010 Olympic title against Sweden, who beat Finland 2-1 earlier Friday. The U.S. returns to the ice Saturday to battle the Finns for the bronze.
"It was a great team event tonight and I’m just having fun," Benn said. "I’m just staying calm, I’m excited for the next couple of days."
Benn scored backhand off a pass from the point by Jay Bouwmeester on 1:41 of the second period, delighting the majority-Russian crowd, which roared on the Canadians throughout the game in protest at a disallowed Russian goal against the U.S. in the preliminaries.
“I just saw Jay pretty open back there, he made a great pass back to me and I found a way to get it into the back of the net,” Benn said.
Canadian goaltender Carey Price wrote his name into the history of the North American rivalry with a lights-out display, saving all 31 U.S. shots for the shutout.
