VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Anne Helin skated in on Jessie Vetter for the penalty shot, urged forward by sympathetic Canadian fans who knew it was probably Finland’s last, best chance to score on the American goalie.
“This is when Jessie does great,” backup goalie Molly Schaus said to forward Julie Chu.
Although Helin’s wrist shot was quick, Vetter handled it with ease. None of Finland’s best efforts were nearly enough to alter the U.S. hockey team’s course toward Canada.
Vetter made 23 saves, captain Natalie Darwitz had a goal and two assists, and the U.S. women completed their undefeated run through the Olympics’ preliminary round with a 6-0 victory over Finland on Thursday.
After three routs apiece by the U.S. and Canada, the North American powers are just one victory away from ensuring their long-anticipated meeting for a gold medal next week. The Americans, who outscored their three opponents by a combined 31-1, will face Sweden in Monday’s semifinals, while Canada — which had a 41-2 scoring edge — will take on Finland.
“The tournament started today for us,” said Darwitz, who leads the Americans with 11 points in three games. “We feel ready.”
Molly Engstrom had a goal and an assist for the Americans, and Hilary Knight got her first Olympic goal among their six scorers. Even a fairly strong performance by the highly regarded Finns couldn’t even generate a stumble by the Americans or Vetter, who capped her perfect day by stoning Helin with 5:43 left.
“Jessie was awesome,” U.S. defenseman Caitlin Cahow said. “You know, it’s what we’ve come to expect. We’re anxious to get going. We’ve got one task in sight, and we think we are in pretty good position going forward.”
With a four-goal first period, the Americans advanced to another showdown with Sweden, which upset them in the semifinals four years ago in Turin with a 37-save effort by goalie Kim Martin, who will face them again Monday.
Finland will take on the Canadians, who outscored their three preliminary opponents 41-2, in the other semifinal.
Noora Raty stopped 36 shots for Finland, which had reason to believe it could compete with the Americans. Finland beat the U.S. team 3-2 in the opening game of the Hockey Canada Cup tournament on Aug. 31, but the Americans went on to win the tournament. They haven’t lost to the Finns in five meetings since.
“We were a little sloppy in our own zone,” defenseman Emma Laaksonen said. “We weren’t like we have to be against a team like the United States, but I’m really proud of the team and how we played.”
The Americans beat Finland twice in exhibitions in Colorado Springs by a combined 13-3 earlier this month, and they blamed their slow start on that familiarity. Finland controlled play for much of the first eight minutes before Chu scored the Americans’ first goal.
“I think sometimes it’s tough when you play a team many times before,” Vetter said. “Especially Finland, which we’ve played several times in the last couple months. At times it’s tough to get the intensity up. It helps when we score early like that to get going.”
Although the Americans weren’t seriously threatened thanks to Vetter, the U.S. effort probably won’t scare Canada coach Melody Davidson, who pecked away on her phone while watching the game from the stands. Finland controlled the puck for long stretches, a stark change from the Americans’ easy wins over Russia and China.
Yet the U.S. team went ahead eight minutes into the first period on a Harvard connection: Angela Ruggiero’s slap shot from the point was deflected home by Chu, a three-time Olympian and fellow former Crimson star. Engstrom’s slap shot then ricocheted in off Linda Valimaki’s stick during a U.S. power play, and Meghan Duggan scored 42 seconds later.
When Darwitz deflected a shot past Raty, her fellow Minnesota Golden Gopher, late in the period, the Americans already had more than enough for another win.
“For 40 minutes we played really well, but the first period was just brutal,” Raty said. “They got some nice goals and put us behind. We tried to get back, but they had too much momentum.”
Knight, the Americans’ leading scorer during its exhibition games leading up to Vancouver, finally connected on a cross-ice pass from Darwitz midway through the second period.
Vetter was outstanding during a 5-on-3 penalty-kill in the third period, and when Helin was hauled down from behind by Darwitz a few minutes later, Vetter got her blocker on the shot. Karen Thatcher added another goal in the closing minutes.
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