Finland's Selanne sets record in win over Germany
Last Updated: Saturday, February 20, 2010 | 3:56 AM ET
The Associated Press
Finland's Teemu Selanne leaves the ice after beating Germany 5-0 on Friday. (Julie Jacobson/Associated Press)Teemu Selanne broke the Olympic record for career hockey points, setting up Kimmo Timonen on his second goal late in the second period as Finland beat Germany 5-0 Friday night.
Selanne's assist was the 37th point of his Olympic career. He has 20 goals and 17 assists.
He had shared the record with Russia's Valeri Kharlamov, Vlastimil Bubnik of the former Czechoslovakia and Canada's Harry Watson.
Finnish goaltender Niklas Backstrom made 24 saves for a shutout in his Olympic debut.
The Germans squandered any chance of a possible upset by giving up four penalties that led to three power-play goals over the first two periods.
Tuomo Ruutu scored early in the game. Timonen's goals were in the second. Jarkko Ruutu and Joni Pitkanen scored less than two minutes apart midway through the third.
Undefeated in Vancouver
The Finns — who won silver four years ago — joined defending Olympic champion Sweden, Canada, the United States, and the Czech Republic as the only teams undefeated at the Vancouver Games.
Dimitri Patzold stopped 30 shots for the Germans.
Germany has lost both its games in regulation so far, as have Norway, Latvia and Belarus, with one round left in the opening phase of Olympic hockey.
After the game, Selanne took off his helmet, waved his stick at the crowd and tapped on the glass toward a young fan waving a Finnish flag.
The Anaheim Ducks star's record-setting point was a subtle cross-ice pass to Sami Salo, who pushed the puck back to Timonen for a slapshot that found its way through traffic and into the back of the net.
When Selanne was shown on the videoboards and the record-breaking milestone was announced, his teammates tapped their sticks on the ice and the crowd roared.
His fifth and final appearance at the Olympics was in doubt last month because he needed surgery to repair a broken jaw. He missed eight games because of his jaw, which is protected by a shield, and 17 games in December with a broken left hand.
Corrections and Clarifications
- An earlier version of this Associated Press story did not include Canada among the teams still undefeated in the men's hockey tournament. After two games Canada remains unbeaten in the tournament. The error has been corrected. Feb. 21, 2009, 1:49 a.m. ET
