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MINSK, Belarus -- Finland blanked the Czech Republic 3-0 in the semifinals of the ice hockey world championship on Saturday to set up a final against Russia. Earlier Saturday, Russia beat defending champion Sweden 3-1 in a matchup of the last two title holders to advance to the title game. Finlands Jori Lehtera netted a backhand in the first period before Jarkko Immonen scored on a power play in the second and Lehtera added his second into the empty net in the third. Goaltender Pekka Rinne stopped 20 shots for the shutout. Finland struggled in the group stage, losing three games, and needed a help from Switzerland to advance before eliminated Canada in the quarter-finals. "We had a tough time in the group stage and almost every game was a must win for. Now, weve been able to enjoy the game, nothing to lose" Rinne said. "As a team weve come together and its been great fun. Im really excited about this opportunity." Russia meanwhile, has won all nine of its games at the tournament, and is now one win away from its second title in three years and has a chance to avenge a disappointing loss to Finland in the quarter-finals in the Sochi Olympics. Finland last won the worlds in 2011. "Our team has a character," Russia coach Oleg Znarok said. Showing off its attacking power, Russia rebounded from an opening goal by Oscar Moller just 19 seconds into the game as Sergei Plotnikov and Sergei Shirokov both scored later in the first period. Defenceman Anton Belov drove a slap shot into the net on a rebound to make it 3-1 in the second in front of roaring Russian fans. Russia outshot Sweden 34-23, while goaltender Sergei Bobrovski made big saves to deny Moller and Joakim Lindstrom in the middle period. Danis Zaripov and defenceman Evgeni Medvedev had two assists each and star forward Alex Ovechkin got one assist in his second straight game after recovering from a right leg injury. "I had a new knee brace and felt much better," Ovechkin said. "I cant say I am 100 per cent fit but the situation is that one must be ready for anything. We have one game left and we must do everything to make sure we win." Plotnikov scored from the right circle on a rebound after 13:25 and Shirokov wristed a shot past goaltender Anders Nilsson to put Russia 2-1 ahead with two minutes left in the period. "I dont think we came up to our best level," Nilsson said. "I think they were better than us today, they had more chances and we didnt create enough chances to win." Sweden pulled Nilsson with more than two minutes to play in the third and their advantage increased to six-on-four when Denis Denisov was penalized for interference with 1:40 remaining. But all Swedish hopes ended when Mikael Backlund was ejected for a hit on Plotnikov. That incident prompted angry exchanges between Znarok and a Swedish team official. Sweden and the Czechs now have to recover for Sundays bronze medal game. "Its not the medal we wanted to play for the last game but we dont want to go home empty handed," Sweden forward Gustav Nyquist said. Cheap Hydro Flask Water Bottle . The Maple Leafs handed their embattled head coach a two-year contract extension on Thursday, while at the same time announcing that assistants Dave Farrish, Greg Cronin and Scott Gordon will not be back. Cheap Hydro Flask Sale .com) - The Ottawa Senators will try to keep their slim playoff hopes alive when they face the Chicago Blackhawks who are trying to secure their place in the post-season. http://www.cheaphydroflaskfromchina.com/ . A groundswell for raising the number of playoff qualifiers to seven in each conference figures to get plenty of support from the 32 owners. Most notably, Arizonas Bill Bidwill, who saw his Cardinals go 10-6 and not get in, while Green Bay (8-7-1) qualified by winning the NFC North. Cheap Hydro Flask From China . The two teams will play through the completion of the game starting at 5pm ct on Wednesday. The regularly scheduled Wednesday night matchup will follow that and will now be seven innings. Wholesale Hydro Flask China . Tensions rose in the first period when Penguins defenceman Brooks Orpik hit Bruins forward Loui Eriksson with what appeared to be a clean hit.The Vancouver Canucks opted to hold on to centre Ryan Kesler for a possible run at the playoffs and the struggling club tries to avoid a fourth straight setback on Thursday night when it visits the Dallas Stars. The Canucks figured to be active prior to Wednesdays trade deadline, getting a jump on things the previous day when they dealt goaltender Roberto Luongo to the Florida Panthers for netminder Jacob Markstrom and forward Shawn Matthias. Keslers name was heavy in the rumor cycle going into the deadline, but no deal was done and the 29-year-old can now focus on trying to get the Canucks back into a playoff spot. They are currently two points behind the Stars for the second wild card position in the Western Conference thanks to losses in 10 of their past 11 games. Kesler leads the Canucks with 21 goals and is third on the club with 39 points, one back of both Henrik and Daniel Sedin. Daniel Sedin, though, is out indefinitely with a lower-body injury, further hindering an offense that has scored just eight goals in the previous eight games. Vancouver failed to light the lamp on Tuesday versus the Phoenix Coyotes, falling 1-0. Eddie Lack, the Canucks clear No. 1 goaltender with Luongo dealt, stopped 31 shots and gets the start again tonight. "We just couldnt get that last push and its just been that way for the last month or so," said Lack. "These games are important and we need to start putting together some wins real quick." The 26-year-old rookie is 9-10-4 in 26 games this season, but with a solid 2.05 goals against average and .926 save percentage along with three shutouts. Lack has never started versus the Stars, but ddid face them in relief on Dec.dddddddddddd 19 and stopped all seven shots faced in 17 1/2 minutes of action. The Stars have won both of their meetings with the Canucks this season, taking three in a row and six of the last nine encounters overall. Dallas, just one point ahead of both Phoenix and the Winnipeg Jets for the second wild card berth, failed to earn a point for just the second time in its last nine games (5-2-2) when it lost a 4-2 decision to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday. Coming off a 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres the previous night, the Stars got goals from Alex Goligoski and Trevor Daley as well as 16 saves by backup netminder Dan Ellis. Ellis was making his first appearance since Feb. 1 and it turned out to be his last with the Stars as he was dealt to Florida for goaltender Tim Thomas, who became expendable when the Panthers acquired Luongo. Thomas will help lessen the load for Dallas goaltender Kari Lehtonen and provide veteran insurance in the crease after going 16-20-3 with a 2.87 GAA in 40 games for the Panthers. "Weve liked how hes played. Hes played very well. Hes experienced," Dallas general manager Jim Nill told his teams website of Thomas. "I think it is going to be good for Kari Lehtonen to see a guy, how he prepares, how he handles pressure. Kari is kind of growing into this role. Its Karis team still, but when we have back-to-back games or four games in six nights, he knows there is somebody that can go into the net and the team is going to continue to win. Thats very important." Lehtonen figures to get the start tonight and is 5-7-0 with a 2.92 GAA lifetime versus the Canucks. 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