Finland beat Switzerland 5-1 to progress to ice hockey semifinals at Beijing 2022

The men's ice hockey tournament at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 is whittling down to the final four nations as the quarter-final action continued on Wednesday (16 February) at the National Indoor Stadium.

In the penultimate game, a match up between Finland and Switzerland would decide the third of the ties that decide the semifinal places. The Finns came out on top with a comprehensive 5-1 win over the Swiss side.

With Team USA knocked out earlier in the day by Slovakia, losing 2-3 after the match went to extra time, the draw has opened up a little, although defending champions, ROC have also progressed after beating Denmark, 3-1 and will play the Slovaks in one semifinal.

Canada, another favourite – although beaten by the USA in the preliminary rounds – play Sweden in the final match of the quarterfinals later on Wednesday with the winner taking on the Finns.

The first goal came from Miro Aaltonen in the eighth-minute of the first period after a communication breakdown in the Swiss defence.

Goal number two for the Finns came from Mikko Lehtonen who gets credited after the puck had come off a couple of players and then the Swiss goaltender's helmet.

In the second period, the Finns scored a third, courtesy of Hannes Bjorninen before Switzerland grabbed one back thanks to Andres Ambuhl.

Iiro Pakarinen and Hartikainen Teemu put the game to bed for the Finns, scoring two more in the third period, confirming their team's semifinal place.

Friday 18 February (all times local to Beijing):

12.10 – Semifinal 121:10 – Semifinal 2