Finland wins first ever Olympic ice hockey gold

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Valtteri Filppula of Finland (R) competes during ice hockey men's gold medal game of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics between Finland and ROC at National Indoor Stadium in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 20, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]

Finland edged past defending champion the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) 2-1 to get its first ever Olympic ice hockey gold medal at Beijing 2022 in the men's final on Sunday.

Before the final, Finland, the second in the world rankings, has never won a Olympic gold medal since it entered the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) family during the Olympics in St. Moritz in 1928, and it got a silver medal at Turin 2006 after losing to Sweden in the men's final. The U.S. and Canada split the seven women's titles since the women's program made its debut in 1998.

World No. 3 ROC edged past Germany 4-3 in overtime at Pyeongchang 2018, and it fell 3-1 to Finland in the quarterfinals at Sochi 2014.

27-year-old Russian forward Mikhail Grigorenko put the puck into the net to break the deadlock at 7:17 in power play, before Finland struck back with an equalizer at 23:28 by 27-year-old defender Ville Pokka.

Finland's forward Hannes Bjorninen scored at 40:31 to seal the victory.

The Finns won all the five games before the final, and defeated Slovakia 2-0 in the semifinals, while the Russians edged past Sweden 2-1 in shootout to reach the final.