Canada hang on against Slovakia, will face U.S. for gold

Vancouver, BC (Sports Network) - Ryan Getzlaf had a goal and an assist, and Canada barely held on for a 3-2 win over Slovakia to advance to the gold medal game against the upstart Americans.

The gold medal game will feature a much-anticipated rematch between Canada and the United States, which posted a surprising 5-3 win over the host country in the preliminary round. While Team USA, which beat Finland 6-1 earlier Friday, is a surprise finalist after winning all five of its games, Canada expected to be here and will now have a chance to capture the top prize on home soil.

It almost didn't happen, though, as Slovakia nearly scored the tying goal in the final seconds. Pavol Demitra had a wide open net at which to shoot after Canada netminder Roberto Luongo had fallen down, but his shot caromed off the crossbar and fell harmlessly to the ice.

Patrick Marleau and Brenden Morrow each scored late in the first period for Canada, which will look to avenge its only loss of this tournament on Sunday in the Olympics' final event. To become the second country ever to capture gold in men's hockey while hosting the games, Canada will have to beat the only other team to ever accomplish the feat. The United States has won in its own country twice -- in 1960 and 1980.

Luongo stopped 19-of-21 shots to improve to 4-0 in the Olympics.

Lubomir Visnovsky and Michal Handzus each tallied for Slovakia, which is assured of its highest finish ever in the Olympics since first participating as a sovereign nation in 1994. Its previous best finish was fifth in 2006, and now the team will face Finland for the bronze medal.

Jaroslav Halak made 25 stops, but it wasn't enough to help Slovakia advance.

Canada held a 3-0 lead with 8 1/2 minutes remaining, but an entire arena and country held its collective breath as the Slovaks made a furious rally. The fans, which chanted "We want USA! We want USA!" throughout the first half of the third period, were suddenly silent and praying that their team of stars would not falter.

First it was Visnovsky, who cut the deficit to two with a goal at the 11:35 mark.

Handzus then made it a one-goal game with 4:53 to play. Richard Zednik skated around behind the net looking for a lane and finally came in front of the net and backhanded the puck toward the net. The disc bounced off Luongo and into the air, where Handzus batted it into the top right corner.

Halak was pulled in the last minute to give Slovakia six skaters, and they nearly equalized the game. With just seconds to play, Luongo was down on the ground, with the puck bouncing around the crease area. It popped out to Demitra, whose attempt missed, and the entire nation of Canada to let out a collective sigh of relief as the game ended.

Canada got on the board 13:30 into the game, as Marleau redirected a Shea Weber shot in between Halak's pads for a 1-0 advantage.

Morrow quickly doubled the lead, tipping a Chris Pronger shot past Halak's stick and into the net just 1:47 after the previous goal.

In the second period, a Zednik penalty led to a Getzlaf power play goal and a 3-0 cushion. Corey Perry's initial shot was stopped by Halak, but the puck bounced over to Getzlaf, who easily deposited the disc into the wide-open net.

02/27 00:13:41 ET