US, Norway, Finns, Germans in Olympic hockey quarters

GANGNEUNG, South Korea: South Korea threatened an upset of mighty Finland before falling short while Norway snapped an 11-game Olympic losing streak to advance to the Pyeongchang men’s hockey quarter-finals Tuesday along with Germany and the United States.

Finland, medallists in five of the past six Olympics, saw a three-goal lead trimmed to one before escaping with a 5-2 playoff victory over the Olympic hosts to secure a Wednesday quarter-final date with two-time defending champion Canada.

“They played great. I respect that,” said Finland’s Petri Kontiola, who scored twice. “They did a great job.” After the game, the South Korean team took large flags onto the ice and skated laps around the rink in an emotional tribute to the screaming fans who were giving their winless team a standing ovation.

“I felt so proud with the flags around me,” tearful forward Park Woo-sang said. “We wanted to thank them for all the support.”Down 3-0, the South Koreans roared back as Canada-born Radunske, the first player without Korean ancestry to play for South Korea after taking citizenship in 2013, scored 10:06 into the second period and Ahn Jin-hui followed only 2:03 later. The Finns thwarted a Korean power play to start the third period, then Juuso Hietanen struck for a power-play goal with 12:40 remaining. “They were working really hard. It wasn’t an easy game,” Hietanen said. “They should be proud.”

An empty-net goal late by Sakari Manninen doomed the South Korean upset bid.“I knew it was possible it could turn,” said Finland’s Sami Lepisto. “I wasn’t nervous about the situation but you never know.”

Norway, which had not won since a 1994 11th-place consolation game, edged Slovenia 2-1 on Alexander Bonsaksen’s over-time goal to book a last-eight matchup against the Olympic Athletes from Russia. “This is historic,” Bonsaksen said. “I’m really happy.” The US men routed Slovakia 5-1 and will face unbeaten Czech Republic in Wednesday’s quarter-finals while Germany edged Switzerland 2-1 on Yannic Seidenberg’s over-time goal to set a quarter-final against unbeaten Sweden.