5 on 3's, ghosts and a guy named Nittymaki

Team USA's run at the Olympics came to an end on Wednesday, as Finland defeated the Americans 4-3 in Quarterfinal Play. Despite storming back from a 2-0 deficit early on, the US gave up not one, but two 5 on 3 penalties in the second, resulting in a 4-2 lead going into the third. The US opened up the 3rd on the power play, but couldn't convert, and then were down for four minutes on a phantom double minor to Derian Hatcher, who hit Teemu Selanne in the face with a stick below the waist on a follow through. After killing off the penalty, the US closed within one, on a goal by Brian Gionta off a highlight reel pass from Chris Drury. After a bunch of attempts with Rick DiPietro pulled, Antero Nittymaki made some huge saves off some big US faceoff wins and preserved the victory for the undefeated Finnish team. USA outshot Finland 28-25, including 16-3 in the 3rd period. Team USA lost all four of their games by one goal.

Craig Conroy had an assist on Team USA's second goal from Matthieu Schneider, and Erik Cole who was pretty much a maniac the entire game, had an assist on Gionta's goal. At one point Cole was running double shifts, and still creating havoc for the Finns. Conroy finishes the tournament with one goal and four assists, tied for the team lead in points. Cole had a goal and two assists for the tournament. After these performances, if Craig and Erik can continue their production at the NHL level, they're likely candidates for future international play, and justified their spots in this year's team with some great play.