Finland Eliminates South Korea with 5-2 Win in Olympics Hockey 2018

There will be no Cinderella run for South Korea in Winter Olympics men's ice hockey, as Finland eliminated the host nation from medal contention with a 5-2 victory Tuesday at the Gangneung Hockey Centre. 

After the Finns raced out to a 3-0 lead early in the second period, the Koreans fought back with a pair of goals to reinvigorate the home crowd. It created some unexpected tension for the two-time silver medalists, but they tightened up defensively in the third to thwart the comeback bid.

Petri Kontiola led the offensive charge for the Finnish side with two power-play goals. Brock Radunske and Ahn Jin-hui scored for South Korea.

Finland advances to face fellow hockey superpower Canada in Wednesday's quarterfinals in Pyeongchang.

All signs pointed toward a blowout for the first half of the contest. The Finns outshot the Koreans 14-5 in the first period, and a Miro Heiskanen goal just over six minutes into the second gave them the commanding three-goal advantage.

South Korea answered with two goals in two minutes midway through the middle frame. The sudden offensive outburst came after the team scored just once in three games during the group stage.

Tom Gulitti‏ of NHL.com discussed the crowd reaction as the host nation started to surge:

Juuso Hietanen calmed the frenzy a little over seven minutes into the third with Finland's third power-play goal, jamming the puck past Korean netminder Matt Dalton following a scramble in front.

Sakari Manninen added a late tally into the empty net for the Finns. South Korea generated only two shots on goal in the final period.

Chris Cuthbert‏ of TSN showed the Koreans taking a lap around the ice to thank the fans:

Looking ahead, the quarterfinal clash between Finland and Canada would be a lot more intriguing if Aleksander Barkov and Patrik Laine were leading a Suomi squad into battle against a Canadian group led by Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid.

While the NHL's decision to skip the Pyeongchang Games robbed hockey fans of those type of matchups, a gold medal is still on the line this week and the survivor of Wednesday's clash of non-NHL rosters will be two wins away from Olympic glory.