Sweden stun Canada to reach men's semi-finals

Sweden completed the men's ice hockey semi-final line-up at Beijing 2022 on Wednesday (16 February) with a 2-0 win over Canada.

In a tight game, Lucas Wallmark broke the deadlock midway through the third period before Anton Lander shot into an empty net in the last two minutes to seal the win.

The PyeongChang 2018 bronze medallists joined the USA in making quarter-final exits, and only reigning champions ROC remaining from the medallists four years ago with beaten finalists Germany going out on Tuesday.

Sweden's reward for their victory is a meeting with ROC in the last four on Friday night.

There was little to choose between the sides with Sweden just outshooting Canada 24 to 22.

Goalie Lars Johansson kept out everything for the shutout and said, "It's do-or-die games here. Either you continue to fight for that gold medal, or you're going home, so it's a great win.

"It was a great performance by the team. We did a really solid 60 minutes, barely gave up any chances. And after we got that 1-0 late in the third, I think we controlled the game and never gave them anything. I'm really proud and happy."

The breakthrough came with 50:15 played as Canada gave the puck away to Wallmark on the blue line and he shot high past Canadian goaltender Matt Tomkins for his fifth goal of the tournament.

Canada fought hard but could not find a way past Johansson.

With just over two minutes to go, they pulled Tomkins for an extra skater on the ice, but the plan backfired within seconds as Lander picked up the loose puck to fire home and put Sweden one win away from a sixth Olympic final.

"It was a tight game with two teams battling hard, and it was a game where we didn't give up much," said Lander.

"It was a back-and-forth game with solid