BEIJING, February 18. /TASS/. Russian ice hockey players reached the final of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games after defeating the Swedish national squad in a penalty shootout during their semifinal encounter on Friday.

The score in the match was opened less than 15 seconds into the middle period with ROC Team’s Anton Slepyshev netting the puck. Sweden’s Anton Lander tied the score of the match with a goal on the 47th minute of the closing period.

The score of 1-1 remained throughout the following extra-time period time, but Team ROC eventually defeated the Swiss squad on a penalty shootout 3-2.

ROC ice hockey team is now set to face Finland on February 20 for the gold medal of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. The national ice hockey team of Finland advanced to the final match of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in China with the 2-0 win over Slovakia earlier on Friday.

The final ice hockey match of the 2022 Olympics is scheduled for February 20, while the game for the bronze medal will take place on February 19.

At the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea’s PyeongChang, the Russian national ice hockey team played under the status of Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR) and eventually won the Olympic gold defeating Germany 4-3 in sudden death overtime in the final match.

The ice hockey competition at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing runs between February 9 and 20.

The 2022 Winter Olympic Games in the Chinese capital of Beijing are being held between February 4 and 20. During the 128th IOC session in Kuala Lumpur on July 31, 2015, Beijing was chosen to host the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games making the Chinese capital the first city ever to host both the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games (in 2008) as well as the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games (in 2022).