GANGNEUNG, South Korea (AP) — Noora Raty stopped 20 shots to lead Finland to a 3-2 victory over the Russians for the women's hockey bronze medal on Wednesday, putting the Finns on the Olympic podium with the United States and Canada for the third time.
Petra Nieminen, Susanna Tapani and Linda Valimaki scored for Finland, which can claim for another Olympiad to be the best of the rest in a sport dominated by North Americans.
With Canada and the United States playing in the gold medal game on Thursday for the fifth time in six Winter Games, the tournament can be viewed as two overlapping events: One is a two-week slog until the North Americans play in the final, and the other is a six-team competition to claim the remaining spot on the podium.