GANGNEUNG, South Korea (AP) — The Russians expected to play for the Olympic men's hockey gold medal for the first time in 20 years.
Their opponent is quite the surprise: Germany will play in its first Olympic hockey final on Sunday hours before the games conclude.
Patrick Hager's power-play goal at 12:31 of the second period wound up the game-winner as Germany stunned two-time defending gold medalist Canada 4-3 Friday night to set up a very unexpected gold medal game. Germany has only two bronze medals in hockey in its history — the last in 1976.
After upsetting top-seeded Sweden and pulling off their latest amazing win, an elusive gold medal suddenly isn't so far-fetched.