Winter Olympics 2022: Russia beats Sweden to set up final vs Finland

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Anxious feelings overwhelmed the Russians' bench as they fell behind in the shootout against Sweden and needed each goal and save to stay alive.

"Some of the shootouts I didn’t even look," forward Damir Sharipzyanov said. "I was too nervous."

The Russians got six stops from Ivan Fedotov and goals from Nikita Gusev, Yegor Yakolev and Arseni Gritsyuk to win an eight-round shootout and beat Sweden 2-1 Friday, advancing to a second consecutive Olympic final. The team known as Russian Olympic Committee will face Finland on Sunday looking for back-to-back gold.

"We believed in each other, and we believed in the guys who were going in the shootout," captain Vadim Shipachyov said.

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The Russian Olympic Committee celebrates the winning goal during a shootout by Arseni Gritsyuk (81) in a men's semifinal hockey game against Sweden at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 18, 2022, in Beijing.  (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

The pre-tournament favorites are in the gold medal game as expected, even if it hasn't exactly been a dominant run to this point. The semifinal against Sweden was another methodical performance by a team that's built to outscore opponents but has shown it can grind out victories, as well.

"We play our game," defenseman Nikita Nesterov said. "We are not expected to be a defensive team. We play aggressive, so we need to score more."

The Russians don't need to score much when Fedotov is on his game. The 25-year-old Philadelphia Flyers prospect who could be in the NHL as soon as next season made 34 saves in regulation and overtime before the shootout.

In the shootout, Yakovlev scored in the fifth round when