It all came down to one shot. Unfortunately for Team USA, that shot was off the stick of Sidney Crosby. Hockey’s biggest star delivered in the game’s biggest game, as Crosby beat tournament MVP Ryan Miller 7:40 into overtime to lift Canada to a 3-2 victory in the gold medal game.

This one was an instant classic, with the U.S. rallying from a 2-0 deficit and forcing overtime with a Zach Parise goal with 24.4 seconds left and Crosby ultimately sending the home crowd in Vancouver into delirium with his overtime heroics.

Here are some quick thoughts from a memorable finale to an outstanding Olympic tournament:

- This might not be a popular opinion in New England, but I couldn’t help but root for Canada in this one. Yes, it would have been a great story to see the U.S. complete their improbable run to another gold medal. But this wasn’t another Miracle on Ice. Both teams were stocked entirely with NHL players – the only two teams in the tournament with all current NHLers on their rosters – and didn’t have any of the political overtones of that 1980 game in the midst of the Cold War. This was strictly a hockey game. An amazing game. A historic game. But still just a hockey game. And I for one am happy to see the victory go to a true hockey nation. Win or lose, the vast majority of Americans were going to forget about hockey again in a few weeks. Canada will cherish this victory on their home soil for generations.

- The U.S. was fortunate to get the game to overtime. They got away with an apparent offsides by Dustin Brown on the rush that led to their first goal, and Canada came within a couple inches of putting it out of reach as both Shea Weber and Chris Pronger hit posts early in the third. That aid, good teams take advantage of such breaks, and the Americans deserve nothing but praise for the resiliency they showed in rallying for the equalizer in the final minute of regulation.

- One thing hockey fans from both sides of the border and the world over should agree on is that it was a relief to see it end in the overtime session. It would have been disgraceful to see a game like this decided in a gimmicky shootout.

- Anyone else glad the Bruins have gotten four of their six meetings with the Sabres out of the way already? They’ll only have to face Miller two more times this year, and both of those games are at the Garden. Of course, as Canada found out these past two weeks, Miller is pretty good on enemy ice, so even those two meetings might be two too many for the Bruins.

- Great to see Patrice Bergeron add another gold medal to his trophy case, as he now has an Olympic gold to go along with golds from the World Juniors (2005) and World Championships (2004). Bergeron didn’t see a lot of action, playing a team-low 3:12, more than 10 minutes less than any other Canadian forward. But he did play in some key situations, seeing time on the penalty kill and taking some important defensive-zone face-offs. Ex-Bruin Joe Thornton also adds another gold, with this Olympic medal joining the gold he won in the World Juniors (1997) and World Cup (2004). Jumbo Joe gets a lot of grief for his clubs’ lack of playoff success in the NHL, but he’s enjoyed plenty of success on the international stage.

- It was also good to see Tim Thomas earn a medal, even if it wasn’t the color he was hoping for. Thomas and Jonathan Quick (Hamden, Conn.) didn’t have much to do with the way Miller was playing in net, but just making it to this level was quite an accomplishment for Thomas, who has risen from minor-league journeyman to Vezina winner.

- It was a tough day for Ryan Whitney (Scituate, Mass.). A late addition to Team USA as an injury replacement, the Anaheim defenseman played sparingly (just 2:57 today and 48:25 total for the tournament, both team lows). He was a minus-1 today, as Canada’s second goal came when Ryan Getzlaf’s centering pass went off Whitney’s stick right to Corey Perry, and Whitney’s Ducks teammate buried it from the slot. Brooks Orpik (Braintree, Mass.) was also a minus-1 in 15:10, but delivered several big hits to set a physical tone, including an early check that sent Dany Heatley into the U.S. bench. Chris Drury (Trumbull, Conn.) was even in 9:34, and finishes his third Olympic Games with two goals and a plus-3 rating.

- All six of the current Bruins competing in these Games enjoyed strong showings. Even more important for Boston’s interest, all six will return healthy. The Bruins will now look for them to carry the momentum for those performances into the stretch run back in the NHL.

Here’s how the Bruins fared in Vancouver:

Patrice Bergeron, Canada 7 games, 0-1-1, minus-2; won gold

Tim Thomas, United States 1 game, 0-0-0, 3.14 GAA, .857 save percentage in 11:31; won silver

Zdeno Chara, Slovakia 7 games, 0-3-3, even, 164:04 (led team by nearly 20 minutes); placed fourth

Miroslav Satan, Slovakia 6 games, 1-1-2, minus-2, scored game-winner vs. Norway; placed fourth

David Krejci, Czech Republic 5 games, 2-1-3, plus-2, scored OT winner vs. Latvia; lost in quarterfinals

Marco Sturm, Germany 4 games, 0-1-1, minus-2; lost in qualification round

Hockey fans couldn’t have asked for a better two weeks of action from these Olympic Games, but now the focus shifts back to the NHL – and the Bruins. And hopefully the next couple months will be as memorable as these past two weeks.

Zdeno Chara (33) belts Finland's Niklas Hagman into the boards, but the Finns had the last laugh with a 5-3 win in the bronze medal game. (photo: Getty)

There will be no medal for Zdeno Chara. Slovakia held a 3-1 lead over Finland after two periods in the bronze medal game, but the Finns rallied for four unanswered goals in the third to take third in the Vancouver Games with a 5-3 win.

Despite the loss, Chara enjoyed a strong showing at the Games, finishing with three assists in seven games while play 20 minutes more than any other Slovakian skater. One of those assists game tonight, when Chara again played a team-high 25:06. Bruins fans got a bit of a scare when he went down in pain after taking a Teemu Selanne shot off his ankle in the second, but he finished his shift and played the rest of the way. He was hit by another shot, this time taking off his stick, as Kimmo Timonen shot ricocheted off Chara’s stick, then hit Niklas Hagman’s arm and went in to start Finland’s rally 5:06 into the third.

Olli Jokinen followed that with goals at 6:41 and 8:41 and Finland suddenly was in the lead. A Valtteri Filppula empty-netter ended any hopes of Slovakia earning its first hockey medal.

Finland has no shortage of medals, earning its fourth in the last five Games. Jere Lehtonen, Ville Peltonen and Saku Koivu tie the Olympic record with their fourth individual medals, while all-time leading Olympic scorer Selanne closes out his career in the games with his third medal.

The Finns went right back to Miikka Kirprusoff in goal despite his implosion against the Americans in the semifinals, when he allowed four goals on seven shots before being yanked in the first period. He did allow three goals on 14 shots through two periods, but finished with 19 saves for the win.

Bruins forward Miroslav Satan was held without a point in 10:57 and finishes the tournament with one goal – a game-winner against Norway in the qualification round – and an assist in six games, as he missed the first game and played sparingly in several others as he recovered from a hand injury suffered before the break.

Former Bruin Jozef Stumpel did have a point in this one, but did finish with 1-4-5 totals, while Milan Jurcina was scoreless in the seven games.

All the preliminaries are now out of the way, and all eyes can turn anxiously to the matchup all of North America has been waiting for – the United States and Canada battling for the gold tomorrow (3 p.m., NBC).

One game was over before the first intermission. The other wasn’t decided until the final seconds, and even then came within inches of needing even more time to determine the outcome.

But while they took different paths to get there, all that matters to the millions of hockey fans across North America is that the dream matchup has become a reality. The United States and Canada will play for the gold on Sunday. Team USA stayed undefeated in the Games by routing Finland 6-1, while the host Canadians held on for a 3-2 win over Slovakia and will now have a chance to avenge their only loss, which came at the hands of the U.S. last Sunday.

Some quick thoughts on a memorable day of semifinal matchups:

Defenseman Ryan Whitney, of Scituate, Mass., and Bruins goalie Tim Thomas (30) celebrate after Team USA's 6-1 win over Finland to reach the gold medal game. (photo: Gettty)

- The Americans were supposed to be the ones tested in the semifinals by a tough Finnish time that took home the silver in 2006 and had Mikka Kiprusoff in goal fresh off a shutout of the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals. But it took just 2:04 to snap that shutout streak, as Kiprusoff came out to play the puck and his pass was intercepted by Ryan Malone, who then flipped it into the open net.

Zach Parise, Erik Johnson and Patrick Kane followed with goals to make it 4-0 just 10:08 in and Kiprusoff’s day was over. He finished allowing more shots get past him then he stopped, as he had just three saves. Kane and Paul Stastny greeted backup Nicklas Backstrom with two more goals in his first 2:38 in net and the Americans didn’t have to worry any more about this one.

- U.S. goalie Ryan Miller extended his own shutout streak to 111 minutes, 38 seconds before giving way to Bruins goalie Tim Thomas in the third. It was Thomas’ first action in the Olympics, and first game action of any kind since Feb. 2 as he backed up Tuukka Rask for Boston’s final six games before the break. Thomas lost the shutout with a bit of bad luck, as Antti Miettinen’s point blast deflected off Jack Johnson and past Thomas for a power-play goal. Thomas did stop the other six shots he faced in 11:31 of action as the U.S. cruised to a 6-1 win.

It was fitting that Thomas finally got to make his Olympic debut against Finland. He spent four seasons playing in Finland early in his career, and was named the MVP of the Finnish League in 2004-05. The following year he finally got his first chance at regular duty in the NHL, and his performance in Finland played a big part in getting that opportunity in the Bruins organization.

- Ex-Bruin Phil Kessel didn’t get a point, but made a key play early. It was his speed coming in on the forecheck that created the pressure on Kiprusoff that forced the errant pass Malone picked off. Kessel finished a plus-1 with two shots in 13:35.

The New England contingent was also held scoreless, but Chris Drury (Trumbull, Conn.) continued his strong two-way play, Brooks Orpik (Braintree, Mass.) was a physical presence on the blue line and Ryan Whitney (Scituate, Mass.) was a plus-1 in 11:06.

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Bruins captain Zdeno Chara hugs Slovakian teammate Marian Gaborik after a goal against Sweden. (photo: Getty)

The final four teams are set, and they aren’t necessarily the four teams everyone expected. Defending gold medalist Sweden and pre-tournament favorite Russia are both gone, while the United States, Canada, Finland and Slovakia live on.

The U.S. got things started by winning a 2-0 nail-biter over Switzerland, once again riding the hot goaltending of Ryan Miller while Zach Parise scored both goals, the second an empty-netter. That was a surprise, nor was seeing Canada continuing its rebound by beating Russia. What was a shock was the ease of the victory, as the Canadians routed the Russians 7-3 in a game that was never competitive.

Finland, which will play the U.S. in the first semifinal on Friday, followed the Americans’ lead with a 2-0 win of its own over the Czech Republic. On the 30^th anniversary of Team USA’s win over Finland to clinch the gold in 1980, those two teams have set up a rematch for a shot at another Olympic title. Finland is the lone medalist from 2006 still standing, as Slovakia pulled off a mild upset in ending Sweden’s hopes of repeating with a 4-3 victory. Slovakia will take on Canada, the only team that has won gold since NHL players started competing remaining in the tournament, in the night game on Friday.

Some other thoughts on tonight’s quarterfinal action:

- Miller vs. Hiller. The opening game of the day was all about the goaltenders. The show Anaheim’s Jonas Hiller put on for Switzerland was easy to appreciate, as he almost singlehandedly lifted the Swiss into the semifinals as he stopped 42 of the 43 shots he faced. Miller’s stats were far less gaudy, but his 19-save shutout might actually have been even more impressive. It’s difficult for a goalie to get into a rhythm when facing so few shots (4 each in the first and second periods), and that’s even more true when the stakes are this high – a scoreless game in an elimination contest where every shot could be the difference.

- Has one player ever been involved in so many near goals in one game as Ryan Kesler in this one? He fired in the shot that bounced off and over Hiller into the net at the end of the second, but video reviews showed it cross the goal line after the buzzer. Then in the third, Switzerland appeared to have the tying goal with a shot off the inside of the far post, but Kesler cleared it out of the crease and play continued. At the other end of the ice, Ryan Suter scored on a point shot with Kesler providing the screen in front, but that goal was waved off as Kesler was called for interference for knocking Mathias Seger’s helmet off. The Swiss post shot was then reviewed, and that too was ruled no goal.

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Bruins center David Krejci (46) splits a pair of Latvian defenders en route to scoring the game-winning goal in overtime for the Czech Republic.

In the end, the eight teams expected to reach the quarterfinals in Vancouver have indeed reached the quarterfinals. How they got there, however, was anything but what was expected.

The seven clubs comprised mainly with NHL players, along with a Swiss team led by Anaheim goalie Jonas Hiller and Islanders defenseman Mark Streit, occupy the final eight spots. But there was no lack of drama in the first elimination games of the tournament, as three of the four games were decided by one goal. Switzerland needed a shootout before edging Belarus 3-2, the Czech Republic went to overtime before Bruins center David Krejci scored to beat Latvia 3-2 and Slovakia survived a scare from Norway when another Bruin, Miroslav Satan, scored at 8:41 of the third to break a tie and lift the Slovaks to a 4-3 win. Only Canada had an easy night, bouncing back from Sunday’s loss to the United States by throttling Germany 8-2.

With that, tomorrow’s quarterfinals are now set. Top-seeded Team USA will face No. 8 Switzerland in a rematch from round-robin play, No. 6 Canada will play third-seeded Russia in a game many expected to be the gold-medal matchup, the fifth-seeded Czechs move on to play No. 4 Finland and seventh-seeded Slovakia’s reward is a date with undefeated defending champ Sweden, the No. 2 seed.

Some quick thoughts on the qualification round games:

- Switzerland had a surprisingly tough time getting by Belarus, which jumped on a Hiller miscue in the opening minute to take a 1-0 lead. The Swiss settled down and scored a pair of power-play goals – the second by one-time Hartford Whaler Hnat Domenichelli – only to see Belarus tie it with a power-play strike of its own. It stayed that way until the shootout, where Switzerland scored on its first two attempts and Hiller came up big to stuff Montreal’s Sergei Kostitsyn on the final attempt.

- The U.S. beat the Swiss 3-1 in their opening game on the strength of goals by Bobby Ryan, David Backes and Ryan Malone, but they would be wise not to take them lightly in the rematch. That was the only game that ended in regulation for Switzerland, which lost 3-2 to Canada in a shootout, beat Norway 5-4 in overtime and Belarus 3-2 in a shootout today. Romano Lemm had the deciding goal in both wins. The Swiss also shocked Canada 2-0 in 2006, so an upset isn’t out of the question, especially if Hiller stands on his head, so the Americans can’t afford to look past this game.

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The preliminaries are now over. From here on out there will be no second chances, as only elimination games remain.

The final day of the round-robin portion of the Vancouver Games lived up to the hype, with the Americans’ stirring upset of host Canada providing the most memorable moment.

The win also puts the U.S. in an enviable position, having locked up the No. 1 seed thanks to Sweden’s 3-0 shutout of Finland in the nightcap. That gives the Americans an extra day of rest and a bye to the quarterfinals, where they will face the winner of the 8-9 game between Switzerland and Belarus. Just as important, it puts the U.S. on the opposite side of the bracket of Sweden, Russia and Canada, so the Americans will have to face just one of those pre-tournament favorites if they make it to the gold-medal game. Finland or the Czech Republic won’t be an easy matchup in the semifinals if the U.S. avoids an upset in the quarters, but it’s certainly preferable to the road the other big powers face.

Canada is in the worst shape. They fell to sixth with the loss, which means they’ll have to play an elimination game against No. 11 Germany on Tuesday, then take on a rested Russia the following day in the quarterfinals. The winner of that game, which most expected to be the gold-medal matchup, will still have to get through defending champ Sweden – the only team besides the U.S. to get through the round-robin slate unscathed – in the semifinals, though Slovakia might have something to say about that.

Some other thoughts on the final day of preliminary action:

- Team USA’s win was the most memorable game so far of the tournament, but the indelible image of the day has to be Alex Ovechkin’s bone-crushing hit on Jaromir Jagr in the first game of day. Ovechkin caught Jagr in the neutral zone and freight-trained him, causing a turnover that led to a Russian goal by Evgeni Malkin to make it a 3-1 game. Jagr stayed in the game, but the Czechs never recovered in a 4-2 loss that gave Russia the top spot in Group B and a bye into the quarters.

- That hit, by the way, was a thing of beauty to this old-time hockey fan. It would have been a perfectly clean hit in the NHL, but Ovechkin is probably lucky he didn’t get penalized for it, as the Olympics have much stricter rules restricting hits to the head, though hopefully this hit will serve as Exhibit A for the NHL not to adopt similar restrictions and take even more of the physicality out of the game.

- It was a rough day all around for Jagr, who had no points and finished a minus-2 in 15:28. He was also in the box for Russia’s first goal after being called for holding and had an apparent goal waved off because of a quick whistle.

- It isn’t going to be easy to pry those gold medals away from Sweden, at least not as long as Henrik Lundqvist is in goal. He’s started two of Sweden’s first three games and has yet to allow a goal, shutting out both Germany and Finland. The Finns had averaged five goals a game before running into Lundqvist.

- Finland was the only team not to avenge  a gold-medal loss today. Russia got a little payback for the Czech Republic’s 1998 title game win in the first Olympics with NHL players and the U.S. got some revenge for losing the 2002 gold medal on home soil in Salt Lake City, but Finland was denied again, just as the Finns were in the final game in 2006 whne Sweden claimed gold at their expense.

- What the heck has gotten into Brian Rafalski? The American defenseman scored four straight goals for Team USA, tallying two in the final three minutes against Norway and two more tonight in the first 9:15 against Canada.

- So much for the controversy about selecting Chris Drury (Trumbull, Conn.) to Team USA. He may have been struggling with the Rangers, but he’s found his scoring touch in Vancouver. He has two goals and is a plus-3 in three games so far while providing solid defensive play and the veteran leadership Brian Burke wanted when he named Drury to the squad.

- Having NHL players in the Games dispersed among their various native nations makes for some strange combinations, but a pair of new line combos today really should have everyone in the NHL shaking their heads. First, Russia put Pittsburgh’s Malkin on a line with Washington stars Ovechkin and Alexander Semin. That trio combined for two goals and six points, so any animosity from last year’s playoff series obviously didn’t prevent some nice chemistry from developing. Canada’s decision to put Flyers forward Mike Richards on a line with Sidney Crosby didn’t work out quite as well. Crosby did have a late power-play goal, but was also a minus-3, while Richards didn’t have a point and was a minus-2. Maybe he should just go back to spending all night trying to get Crosby to drop the gloves like he does when they play each other in Philly.

- Not a lot of production from the Bruins, both past and present, tonight. David Krejci, Sergei Gonchar and Sergei Zinovyev were all scoreless in the Czech Republic-Russia game, though Gonchar was a plus-2. Samuel Pahlsson did not play for Sweden after missing the morning skate with a stomach ailment. Canada’s Patrice Bergeron, dropped off Crosby’s line in favor of Richards, played just 5:27 and was a minus-1. Phil Kessel was also a minus-1, failing to record a point or a shot while playing just 7:43 for the U.S. Tim Thomas dressed as the backup to Ryan Miller, but still has not appeared in a game and isn’t likely anytime soon after Miller was spectacular again with 42 saves.

- As great as the U.S. win was, the best I can rank it in terms of all-time American hockey victories in the Olympics is fifth. There was no medal at stake and the U.S. still needs three more wins to get gold, including possibly another clash against Canada with far more at stake. What tops it? Here’s the rest of my top 5: 4. The 3-2 semifinal win over Russia in 2002 that put the U.S. into the gold-medal game against Canada in Salt Lake City, where they eventually settled for silver; 3. The 1960 win over Canada en route to Team USA’s first gold medal, and their last win over Canada until tonight; 2. The 1980 finale against Finland, when the U.S. rallied from a 2-1 deficit in the third to win 4-2 and clinch the gold; 1. No surprise here, as it can’t be anything but the Miracle on Ice game – the 4-3 win over the vaunted Soviet Union, which put the underdog Americans in a position to earn that unlikely gold medal in 1980, and a game played exactly 30 years ago tomorrow (or actually today as it’s well after midnight).

Final Round-Robin Standings:

1. United States 3-0-0-0, 9 points, plus-9

2. Sweden 3-0-0-0, 9 points, plus-7

3. Russia 2-0-0-1, 7 points, plus-7

4. Finland 2-1-0-0, 6 points, plus-6

5. Czech Republic 2-1-0-0, 6 points, plus-3

6. Canada 1-1-1-0, 5 points, plus-7

7. Slovakia 1-1-1-0, 5 points, plus-5

8. Switzerland 0-1-1-1, 3 points, minus-2

9. Belarus 1-2-0-0, 3 points, minus-4

10. Norway 0-2-0-1, 1 point, minus-14

11. Germany 0-3-0-0, 0 points, minus-9

12. Latvia 0-3-0-0, 0 points, minus-15

Elimination Round matchups (Tuesday, Feb. 22, quarterfinals on Wednesday, Feb. 23):

No. 8. Switzerland vs. No. 9. Belarus (winner plays No. 1. United States)

No. 5 Czech Republic vs. 12. Latvia (winner plays No. 4 Finland)

No. 7 Slovakia vs. No. 10 Norway (winner plays No. 2 Sweden)

No. 6 Canada vs. No. 11 Germany (winner plays No. 3 Russia)

Coming into the Games, U.S. general manager Brian Burke reveled in his club’s status as an underdog going up against the liked of hockey superpowers Canada, Russia and defending gold medal winner Sweden.

“We have no illusions or delusions about this tournament,” said Burke after selecting the roster in January. “We will go in as underdogs, and we are confident of that and comfortable with that. All of the money is going to be bet on Canada and Russia and Sweden to a lesser extent, and that’s fine with us.”

Burke’s boys won’t have the underdog card to play anymore, and betting against this U.S. club isn’t looking like such a good idea anymore. Team USA pulled off the biggest upset of the Games tonight, shocking host Canada 5-3.

With the win, the U.S. wins Group a with a perfect 3-0-0-0 record for nine points. That earns them one of the four byes into the quarterfinal round, while Canada (1-1-1-0, 5 points) will have to face Germany in the elimination round on Tuesday, with a quick turnaround to the quarterfinals the next day for the winner.

In this one, the Americans set the tone right away, quieting the Canadian crowd as Brian Rafalski scored on a shot that deflected off Sidney Crosby just 41 seconds in. Rafalski, who scored twice in the final three minutes of Team USA’s last game against Norway, added another at 9:22 of the first, scoring just 22 seconds after Canada had tied it.

After Canada tied it again, Chris Drury (Trumbull, Conn.) put the Americans up again when he banged in a rebound and Jamie Langenbrunner extended the lead in the third. But Crosby made it a one-goal game with 3:09 left and the Canadians swarmed the U.S. end the rest of the game.

Ryan Miller did his best Jim Craig impersonation, turning aside 42 shots to help the U.S. beat Canada in the Olympics for the first time in 50 years in the country’s biggest hockey win since the 1980 Miracle on Ice, which celebrates its 30^th anniversary tomorrow.

Canada outshot the U.S. 45-23, including 19-6 in the first and 14-4 in the third. But Miller was up to every challenge. Bruins goalie Tim Thomas dressed as the backup tonight instead of Jonathan Quick (Hamden, Conn.), but it’s obvious that’s as close as Thomas is going to come to seeing any action in these Games. The U.S. will ride Miller as far as he can take them, and right now that looks like it might be pretty far.

Half of the teams in the Olympic field have completed their round-robin games, but we still don’t know a heck of a lot about the matchups for the elimination games that start on Tuesday. That’s because the biggest games all take place tomorrow when round-robin play wraps up with a tripleheader of classic matchups.

What we do know is how the bottom of the 12-team field will look. Latvia and Germany each finished with 0 points, losing all three games in regulation. Germany, despite not scoring until tonight’s 5-3 loss to Belarus, was only outscored 12-3, while Latvia, which fell 6-0 to Slovakia, was outscored 19-4. That leaves Latvia in last place due to goal differential. The Latvians will play the fifth-place team, while Germany will take on the sixth seed. The top four teams in round-robin play earn a bye into the quarterfinals.

Norway earned its first point by losing in overtime to Switzerland 5-4 today, which leaves them in 10th place. Belarus and Switzerland each finish with three points, but the Swiss earn the No. 8 seed with a goal differential of minus-2, while Belarus was outscored by four goals.

The top seven positions will be settled tomorrow with all six teams playing still alive to earn a bye.

In today’s action, the Swiss and Norwegians put on a show in the opening game, trading goals all afternoon until Romano Lemm scored the overtime winner. Former Whaler Hnat Domenichelli failed to convert a penalty shot in the first minute, but set up the game’s opening goal just five seconds later. Tore Vikingstad, a strong candidate for best name in the Games, tallied a hat trick for Norway.

Next up, Slovakia built off its upset of Russia and cruised past an overmatched Latvian team. Former Bruin Jozef Stumpel led the way with a goal and two assists, while Zdeno Chara got a little bit of a break as he played just 20:42 and was a plus-1. Bruin teammate Miroslav Satan made his debut in these Olympics after missing the first two games with a hand injury, and had four shots in just 6:56 and Milan Jurcina was a plus-2 in 16:10.

Ex-Bruin Martins Karsums nearly scored for Latvia. Trailing 3-0, he had a short-handed bid but was denied on a one-handed shot from the slot. The Slovakians then counterattacked and put the game away when Marian Hossa converted a feed from Stumpel to make it 4-0.

In the nightcap, Germany finally ended an Olympic scoreless drought that lasted 193:30 and dated back to the 2006 Games. Bruins forward Marco Sturm helped Germany finally get on the board when he one-timed a pass from Marcel Goc along to the right goal line to Dennis Seidenberg at the left post for a power-play goal at 5:39.

Belarus answered with three straight goals, the last coming at 11:10 of the third, but Germany tied it with a pair of goals in the following minute. The Germans didn’t have an answer for two more Belarus goals in the final 5:24.

Sturm finished with an assist and four shots in 19:53. And by the way, yes that was former Bruins coach Dave Lewis behind the Belarusian bench. Lewis is serving as an assistant coach for Belarus, which amazingly didn’t get called for too many men all night. They did blow a third-period lead, which certainly looked familiar, but their ability to retake the lead and hang on for the win bore little resemblance to Lewis’ last-place 2006-07 Bruins.

On tap for tomorrow

This is the day hockey fans have been waiting for since the tournament schedule was released. Call in Rivalry Sunday, as all three games feature traditional antagonists. They also feature rematches of the three gold-medal games played since NHL players started competing in the Games.

At 3 p.m., the 1998 championship game will be revisited when Russia takes on the Czech Republic in the first hockey action to be shown live on network TV on NBC. But not even a rematch of the 2002 gold-medal showdown between the United States and host Canada in the most highly-anticipated game of the round-robin portion of the tournament could keep hockey on the network in prime time, as that one will be on MSNBC at 7 p.m. Sweden and Finland close things out as the Scandinavian rivals will engage in a rematch of the 2006 finale at 12 a.m. on MSNBC.

There were no more upsets today in Vancouver, but there was one historic milestone reached.

Teemu Selanne picked up an assist to take over sole possession of the all-time scoring record in Olympic play with 37 points, as Finland cruised to a 5-0 win over Germany. Finland is tied with Sweden for the lead in Group C and the two Scandinavian rivals will meet on Sunday in a rematch of the 2006 gold-medal game with a bye into the quarterfinals on the line.

Kimmo Timonen scored a pair of goals and Nicklas Backstrom made 24 saves for the shutout to lead Finland, which scored four power-play play goals. Germany has yet to score through two games, having been blanked by both Finland and Sweden. Bruin forward Marco Sturm nearly tallied, but was denied by Backstrom on a partial breakaway, then again on the rebound in the second period. Sturm finished even with two shots in 14:03.

Sweden, meanwhile, set up the showdown with the Finns by beating Belarus 5-2. Belarus pulled off one of the all-time Olympic upsets in 2002 when Andrei Mezin made 47 saves and Vladimir Kopat broke a 3-3 tie in the third with a shot past Tommy Salo from center ice to knock Sweden out in the quarterfinals. Mezin was in goal again today and had 34 saves, but there was no miracle goal for Belarus this time around.

Sweden jumped out to a 3-0 lead, then held on as Belarus pulled within one and nearly tied it with a shot off the crossbar. Daniel Alfredsson scored twice and Johan Franzen had the game-winner off a feed from former Bruin Samuel Pahlsson.

The Czech Republic was the third favorite to cruise to a win, downing Latvia 5-2. The Czechs jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first 5:07, with Bruins center David Krejci getting things going with his first Olympic goal on a nice move down the slot. He finished a plus-2 with two shots in 13:27, but did get whistled for a pair of penalties.

Belarus did make a game of it, pulling within two goals when Girts Ankipans tipped in a shot by former Bruin Martins Karsums to make it 4-2. Karsums finished with an assist and two shots in 16:15.

On tap for tomorrow (and beyond)

There’s one game in each group scheduled, but their all undercard matches for the heavyweight bouts slated for Sunday. Norway and Switzerland close out their round-robin slates in Group A at 3 p.m. (MSNBC), followed by Latvia and Slovakia in Group B at 7:30 p.m. (MSNBC). Sturm and the Germans will look to finally score against Belarus in the nightcap in Group C action (12 a.m., MSNBC).

Those games are just the warm-ups though, as the big guns are out in full force for the final day of round-robin action on Sunday. That day will feature rematches of the three gold-medal games played since NHL players started competing in the Games. At 3 p.m., the 1998 championship game will be revisited when Russia takes on the Czech Republic in the first hockey action to be shown on network TV on NBC. But not even a rematch of the 2002 gold-medal showdown between the United States and host Canada in the most highly-anticipated game of the round-robin portion of the tournament could keep hockey on the network in prime time, as that one will be on MSNBC at 7 p.m. Sweden and Finland close things out in the 2006 rematch at 12 a.m. on MSNBC.

It took three days, but we finally got the first upsets of the Olympic hockey tournament. No, Switzerland didn’t beat Canada as the Swiss did on this exact same date four years ago, but they did push the hosts to a shootout before falling 3-2 in the first game not settled in regulation so far.

That drops Canada to second place in Group A, as teams get just two points for an overtime or shootout win, with the third point going to the losing side. The United States beat Norway in regulation, 6-1, to earn the full three points and take a one-point lead over Canada in the group standings heading into their showdown on Sunday in the final day of round-robin play.

While the Swiss could claim a moral victory and a point in the standings, Slovakia did even better in the final game of the night, shocking powerhouse Russia 2-1 after a seven-round shootout. It’s hard to classify a team with the likes of Zdeno Chara, Marian Hossa and Marian Gaborik as an underdog, but Slovakia certainly didn’t have the pre-tournament expectations of the Russian squad led by Alex Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin, Pavel Datsyuk and Ilya Kovalchuk, among others.

Ovechkin and Chara had a running battle going on all game long, with Slovakia matching lines to send the Bruins captain out opposite the star sniper every chance it got. Ovechkin got the better of the physical confrontations, leveling Chara at least three times with hits, but Chara got the last laugh as Slovakia took the win. Ovechkin had six shots, but no points and was 1 of 3 on shootout attempts.

Ex-Bruin Jozef Stumpel helped achieve that by scoring on the opening shot of the shootout, though he failed on his second try later. Canucks forward Pavol Demitra, playing in front of his NHL team’s fans in Vancouver, scored the deciding goal in the seventh round.

Chara finished with no points, but did have a good scoring chance in overtime when he intercepted a pass in the neutral zone and drove down the left wing for an in-close shot at the left post. He did also take two more minor penalties. Playing on back-to-back nights, the workhorse didn’t get any breaks as Chara was second on the team with 24:23 of ice-time, trailing only Lubomir Visnovsky’s 25:11). Milan Jurcina, another former Bruin, played 19:11.

On the Russian side, one-time Bruin Sergei Zinovyev (that’s the spelling on the official Olympic site by the way, though the Bruins media guide lists it as Zinovjev and other places have it as Zinoviev) assisted on Russia’s only goal, scored by captain Alexi Morozov.

Both of those players are from the KHL. The Russians drew criticism for passing up some NHLers for a balanced team made up of top players from both the Russian-based KHL as well as the NHL, but so far that decision hasn’t appeared to have hurt them. Going with Ilya Bryzgalov in goal instead of Evgeni Nobokov, who started the first game against Latvia, may have played a bigger role, though Bryzgalov was sharp in regulation, making 31 saves before giving up two goals on seven attempts in the shootout.

Bruin Miroslav Satan did not play again for Slovakia, as he remains out with a hand injury. Despite the short bench, Slovakia still was called for a pair of too many men on the ice penalties. Chara must have thought he was still playing for Dave Lewis. By the way, such comments may soon have to be replaced with Claude Julien’s name, as the Bruins already have nine bench minors this year, closing in on the 12 they had in 2006-07 under Lewis.

Like Russia, Canada made a switch in goal, with Martin Brodeur getting the start after Roberto Luongo played the opener. That move almost backfired when the Swiss roared back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game in the second, but Brodeur came up huge in the shootout, stopping all four shots he faced. After the game, Canada revealed that Brodeur will be in goal again Sunday against the U.S.

Bruin Patrice Bergeron began the game playing with Mike Richards and Jonathan Toews, but did make an appearance later on Canada’s top line with Sidney Crosby and Rick Nash. Toews then replaced him on that late for the remainder of the game, and Bergeron played just 9:06, the third lowest ice-time total on the team.

San Jose linemates Patrick Marleau and Dany Heatley each had a goal and an assist, but fellow Shark Joe Thornton didn’t pick up a point despite playing on the same line. Crosby finally beat Jonas Hiller on his second shootout chance to lift Canada to the win.

The U.S. looked sloppy for much of the day’s first game, but led last-place Norway 3-1 after two periods and pulled away late as Brian Rafalski scored twice in the final three minutes. Ex-Bruin Phil Kessel got the scoring started with his first goal of the tournament, and later added an assist and finished a plus-3 in 12:00. Chris Drury (Trumbull, Conn.) also scored a goal on his only shot and was a plus-1 in 10:09, while Brooks Orpik (Braintree, Mass.) was plus-2 in 16:04 and Ryan Whitney (Scituate, Mass.) was even in 10:36.

Jonathan Quick (Hamden, Conn.) dressed for the first time as the backup to Ryan Miller, who is scheduled to start every game in goal for the Americans. Bruins netminder Tim Thomas did not dress after serving as Miller’s backup in the opener against Switzerland.

On tap for tomorrow

The defending goal medalists start things off tomorrow as Sweden takes on Belarus in the early game (3 p.m., MSNBC). Then David Krejci and the Czech Republic will try to build off last night’s win over Slovakia and can take the lead in Group B with a win against Latvia (7:30 p.m., CNBC). Closing out the fourth day of competition will be Marco Sturm and the Germans, as they look for their first win against Finland (12 a.m., MSBNC).