Americans advance to semis

They clanged shots off the post, then the crossbar. A wrist shot early in the game by Phil Kessel that looked like a bad omen hit both. Everything else the U.S. hockey team threw on net Wednesday, Swiss goalie Jonas Hiller smothered.

But Zach Parise put all that frustration aside, deflecting a wrist shot from Brian Rafalski early in the third period, then scoring into an empty net late to seal a 2-0 quarterfinal win that sent the United States to the next round against Finland.

The Finns defeated the Czech Republic 2-0 in a quarterfinal late Wednesday.

"Relief and excitement, especially in a tight game like that when you are doing everything but score," said Parise, who failed to score on his first 13 shots of the tournament. "The goalie was great, and we did a good job of sticking with it. "We were pretty confident and said just keep putting pucks at him."

Ryan Miller made 19 saves to backstop the victory and move the Americans within two wins of its first men's hockey gold medal in 30 years.

For a while, there was a chance their stirring 5-3 win over Canada on Sunday might go for naught. U.S. general manager Brian Burke said he wasn't happy with his team's play through the preliminary round and cautioned that the Americans had to improve quickly if they hoped to make a run.

He was right, although the challenge came from the lightly regarded Swiss and not from tournament favorites Canada, Russia or defending Olympic champion Sweden.

The wait for production from the top scoring line ended just in time.

"I thought after the first two or three games I could play better. I knew I would," said Parise, who had no goals and three assists in the opening three games. "It's always nice to get rewarded. I just kept wanting to keep shooting."

In front of a full crowd that traded chants for each team, Hiller gave the Swiss a chance to pull off the upset by making 42 saves. He had stymied Parise several times earlier but couldn't keep the New Jersey Devils star down all the way.

Parise, the top-line forward who struck posts with two other shots, got a stick on Rafalski's shot and bounced it off the mask and arm of Hiller before the puck sneaked past his pad and inside the left post 2:08 into the third. The goal came 12 seconds into a power play.

He then sealed the win by scoring into an empty net with 11.2 seconds left. The United States has earned two of its four wins in these games against Switzerland, including a tournament-opening 3-1 victory Feb. 16.

Switzerland seemed to tire as the game wore on. The upstarts, who forced Canada to a shootout in the prelims, reached the quarters with another tiebreaker win over Belarus on Tuesday. Switzerland was forced to play past regulation in its previous three games.

Despite having only two regular NHL players, the Swiss were gallant in longtime coach Ralph Krueger's last Olympics. Switzerland finished sixth four years ago in the Turin Games and was looking for its best showing in Canada.

"We had high expectations," teary-eyed Hiller said, his voice cracking. "We knew we had a solid team and we can upset some of the big ones, and that's what we tried to do. I wish we could have upset them a little more.

"It's always tough to lose, but losing in the quarterfinals in the Olympics and being that close, it definitely hurts. I am quite disappointed right now."

Until Parise scored, the signature moment in this one was a near goal the U.S. team thought it scored to break the deadlock with less than one second left in the middle period.

Ryan Kesler's shot struck Hiller's blocker and popped in the air. Hiller, who plays for the Anaheim Ducks, swatted the puck with his stick and deflected it off his shoulder before it fell behind him.

The puck slid tantalizingly onto the goal line and toward the net as the clock struck 0.0. A video replay confirming no goal sent the pro-Swiss crowd into jubilation as the teams headed to the dressing rooms.

"I thought I scored," Kesler said. "I thought it was in, and we were going into the locker room up 1-0."

Up next

• What: United States vs. Finland

• When: 1 p.m. Friday

• TV: Channel 4, live