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      The shot by Ryan Malone of the United States into a wide-open
net left Finland goalie Miikka Kiprusoff staring at the ceiling and
shaking his head.


      What happened next in this semifinal jolted Canada Hockey Place:
The Americans scored four times on Kiprusoff in a six-goal first
period, surging into the Olympic gold-medal game with a 6-1 rout of
Finland on Friday.


      The U.S. will meet the Canada-Slovakia winner on Sunday, 50
years to the day after capturing gold in 1960 at Squaw Valley,
Calif.


      It is the second time in three Olympics the American men will
play for gold. They haven't claimed the top spot on the podium
since the 1980 Miracle on Ice at Lake Placid, N.Y.


      Captain Jamie Langenbrunner slammed his stick against the boards
as his teammates hugged on the bench.


      Canada edged the U.S. for gold during the 2002 Salt Lake City
Games, and a rematch could be in store. The Americans (5-0) topped
the host nation 5-3 to conclude preliminary play Sunday.


      So much for the Americans having to ride the stellar play of
Ryan Miller to win. Miller was relieved by Tim Thomas with 11:31
left in the game after stopping all 18 shots he faced. Miller had
played every minute of the tournament until then.

      Thomas allowed Antti Miettinen's deflected goal with 5:14 left
in the game to spoil the U.S. bid for consecutive shutouts after a
2-0 quarterfinal win over Switzerland on Wednesday.


      The U.S. didn't wait long for offense. The six goals in the
first tied the U.S. Olympic record for goals in a period, a feat
accomplished five other times but not since a 1964 win over
Germany.


      Finland, the silver medalists four years ago in the Turin Games,
will have to settle for a shot at the bronze. This proud group of
aging stars, including Teemu Selanne and captain Saku Koivu, earned
bronze in 1998 when the NHL first started sending players to the
Olympics.


      The Americans were eliminated by Finland in the 2006 Olympic
quarterfinals, but the Finns were the final opponent for the 1980
U.S. team that shocked hockey.


      U.S. fans took a page from the host country's supporters and
alternated with chants of "We Want Canada" and "U-S-A" as the
final minutes ticked down.


      By the time Kiprusoff pulled himself out of the game 10:08 in,
the U.S. had a 4-0 lead on only seven shots. The Calgary Flames
goalie had allowed four goals total on 75 Olympic shots in three
previous games, giving him the top save percentage in the
tournament.


      Backup goalie Niklas Backstrom was still wearing his baseball
cap on as he scurried on the ice to get ready to bail out
Kiprusoff.


      Kiprusoff's day appeared to be over after Eric Johnson made it
3-0 with a power-play goal at 8:36 that prompted Finnish coach
Jukka Jalonen to call timeout. Kiprusoff stayed in, but was back at
the bench 1:32 later when Patrick Kane scored the first of his two
goals.


      This time, Kiprusoff kept his mask on and marched straight down
the tunnel toward the dressing room. He returned to the bench soon
after and was in place in the corner in time to see Backstrom allow
two goals on the first four shots he faced.


      Kiprusoff had only himself to blame for the start of his
nightmare. The U.S. cleared its defensive zone with a nudge of the
puck that slid slowly in toward Kiprusoff. Phil Kessel raced up ice
and forced Kiprusoff to come way out of his crease to play the
puck. The goalie gently swept it away, but right onto the stick of
Malone, who quickly fired a shot from the top of the left circle
into the vacated net at 2:04 for his third goal.


      Zach Parise matched Malone when he nestled a shot under the
crossbar for a power-play goal off a perfect pass from Paul Stastny
at 6:22.


      The Finns, who committed numerous turnovers with sloppy play
that led to goals and other scoring chances, handed the American
another power play when Toni Lydman rammed Dustin Brown's face into
the boards with a hit from behind with 7:02 gone.


      Johnson turned that into another power-play goal. It was the
first time in this tournament a team scored more than once in a
game with a man advantage.


      Timeout Finland, but by then it was already too late.


      Kane, a top-line U.S. forward, who had scored only once in the
tournament, struck for back-to-back goals 2:33 apart - one each on
Kiprusoff and Backstrom - and Stastny scored 15 seconds after
Kane's second to make it 6-0 with 7:14 left in as one-sided as a
period can be.


      Other than cheers from American fans in the crowd, the biggest
outburst came when it was announced that only one minute was left
in the period in which the U.S. held a 13-4 shots edge.

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The Americans scored six goals in the first period, surging into the Olympic gold-medal game with a 6-1 rout of Finland on Friday.

US routs Finland 6-1, will play for hockey gold

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