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Rask denies he was too hungover to play versus Sweden

Ice Hockey - Winter Olympics Day 12 - Finland v Russia

SOCHI, RUSSIA - FEBRUARY 19: Tuukka Rask #40 of Finland tends the net during the Men’s Ice Hockey Quarterfinal Playoff against Russia on Day 12 of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics at Bolshoy Ice Dome on February 19, 2014 in Sochi, Russia.

Martin Rose

From CSN New England’s Joe Haggerty:

Rask, of course, came back to shut out the Americans, 5-0, in the bronze-medal game; however, his last-minute withdrawal from Finland’s semifinal contest versus rival Sweden caused quite the stir at the time.

Kari Lehtonen started in Rask’s place and stopped 23 of 25 shots in the 2-1 loss, which sent the Swedes to the gold-medal game versus Canada. Though Lehtonen didn’t play particularly poorly, the winning goal, on a point shot by Erik Karlsson, left a lot of Finnish fans wondering if the outcome would’ve been different if a healthy Rask had been in there.

Related: Did too much Austrian partying cost them a spot in the quarterfinals?