All four top seeds beat their quarterfinals opponents, which means that the Russians have been eliminated and we have a pair of fierce rivals set to play each other in the semifinals.
Both games will take place on Friday and be played at the Bolshoy Ice Dome:
Sweden vs. Finland (7 a.m. ET, NBCSN) -- Watch it live online
The Scandinavian neighbors will face off in a rematch of the 2006 gold medal game.
Both of these teams have done a tremendous job overcoming injuries in this tournament. Finland is playing without several of its top centers including Mikko Koivu, Valtteri Filppula, and Aleksander Barkov while Sweden has been forced to get by without Henrik Sedin, Johan Franzen, and Henrik Zetterberg. Even still, these squads have been two of the most effective offensively in the Olympics.
This contest will feature a classic goaltending matchup between Finland’s Tuukka Rask and Sweden’s Henrik Lundqvist. This will also be a game between two of these nation’s greatest hockey heroes of all-time in Daniel Alfredsson and Teemu Selanne
United States versus Canada (12 p.m. ET, NBCSN) -- Watch it live online
Four years ago the United States came into the Olympics as underdogs, but they beat Canada in the round robin and then took the Canadians to overtime in the gold medal game before Sidney Crosby brought an end to America’s run. This time around, there is no underdog and there is no favorite. Granted, Canada still boosts the stronger lineup on paper, but in practice the Americans have had a far more impressive tournament.
While the Canadians have been adjusting to the big ice and at times struggling to gain traction, nearly every forward on the U.S. squad has been clicking. The Americans have scored at least five goals in three of their last four contests. By comparison, Canada has only done that once in its game against Austria.