In the semifinals, Russia edged USA 3-2 and Canada downed Sweden 3-1. This set the stage for another showdown between the two hockey superpowers.

This was not the Lake Placid Olympics, but the "Miracle on Ice" still coloured the prelude to this semifinal and the young U.S. squad were determined to give the reigning champions a run for their money.
A key element in USA's gameplan was to unsettle Ilya Kovalchuk, with Dustin Brown keeping close tabs on him throughout the game. In the end, this wasn't enough. Kovalchuk, who took double-shifts and played nearly 26 minutes, was the shining star one the ice and combined for a goal and an assist.

USA started the game at a higher intensity than it showed against Russia in the preliminary round last Saturday. In the opening minutes, the USA outshot Russia 5-0, but failed to find the net. Russia soon settled down and created a range of opportunies, but the first period ended scoreless. Dustin Brown broke the deadlock at 23:46 when he intercepted  Vitaly Atyushov's lazy pass through his own zone and beat Bryzgalov from close range between the pads after a mixup in the Russsian defense. At 31:20, Russia levelled the score when Kovalchuk wristed the puck in a splitsecond after a faceoff. Kovalchuk was here, there and everywhere in the game. A few minutes later, Kovalchuk stole the puck from David Backes in the U.S. defensive zone, crossed the ice and fired a shot from the right circle that hit Aleksandr Frolov and bounched past Robert Esche. USA tied the game at 38:03 when Kyle Okposo connected on a one-timer off Ron Hainsey's pass from the left circle.
The two teams traded powerplay chances early in the third and Okposo struck the post before USA took just its third penalty with under four minutes left. The hooking call on T.J Oshie proved to be decisive. As Oshie's penalty started to tick out with only two minutes left, Aleksandr Radulov stepped up an fired a fierce wristshot that richocetted off Konstantin Gorovikov. USA substituted Esche with the sixth skater with 1:19 to go, pinning Russia back in an attempt to level again but failed to save the day. The day belonged to Kovalchuk and Radulov, the matchwinner.

"It wasn't easy to play after the US went into the lead", said Radulov. "They played very well today, but luckily we managed to come back. It was Kovalchuk's great match. I'd say he put us into the final".

Russia - USA 3-2 (0-0, 2-2, 1-0)
8 May 2009, Postfinance Arena, Berne, Att: 11,057
0-1 23:47 Dustin Brown 3
1-1 31:20 Ilya Kovalchuk 5 (Zinoviev)
2-1 34:25 Aleksandr Frolov 3 (Kovalchuk)
2-2 38:03 Kyle Okposo 2 (Hainsey, Liles)
3-2 58:13 Konstantin Gorovikov 1 (Radulov, Nikulin) PP1
RUS 3x2, USA 3x2, SOG 23:20 (7:6, 5:8, 11:6)
Best players: RUS: Ilya Kovalchuk, USA: Kyle Okposo

RUS: Bryzgalov; Nikulin, Proshkin (2), Kovalchuk, Tereschenko (4), Morozov - Vishnevsky, Tverdovsky, Frolov, Zinoviev, Perezhogin - Kalinin, Atyushov, Saprykin, Gorovikov, Radulov - Korneev, Grebeshkov, Mozyakin, Kuryanov.
USA: Esche; Hainsey, Suter, Blake, O'Sullivan, Brown - Johnson, Liles, Oshie (2), Backes, Okposo (4) - Ballard, Niskanen, Pavelski, Higgins, Shannon - Bagosian, Foligno, Wilson, Stempiak, Stafford.
Refs: Brent Reiber (SUI) & Marcus Vinnerborg (SWE)
Linesmen: Peter Sabelström (SWE) / Daniel Wirth (SUI)

Canada - Sweden 3-1 (1-0, 2-0, 0-1)
8 May 2009, Postfinance Arena, Berne, Att: 11,477
1-0 06:51 Derek Roy 3 (St. Louis, Stamkos)
2-0 29:53 Shawn Horcoff 1 (Fisher)
3-0 30:38 Derek Roy 4 (Heatley) PP1
3-1 46:14 Loui Eriksson 2 (Mårtensson)
CAN: 5x2, SWE 3x2, SOG 29:26 (6:9, 17:8, 6:9)
Best players: CAN: Dwayne Roloson, SWE: Marcus Nilsson

CAN: Roloson; Hamhuis, Weber, Roy (2), Spezza, Heatley - Doughty (2), Vlasic, Doan, Stamkos, St. Louis - Phillips, Coburn, Horcoff (2), Fisher, Zajac - Schenn, Kwiatkowski, Lombardi (4), Upshall, Armstrong.
SWE: Gustavsson; Oduya, Tärnström (4), Huselius, Nilson, Wallin - M. Johansson, Gunnarsson, Mårtensson, Eriksson, Weinhandl - K. Jönsson, Strålman (2), Thörnberg, Omark, Harju - Grossman, Åkerman, Berglund, J. Andersson, N. Persson.
Refs: V. Bulanov (RUS) & D. Kurmann (SUI)
Linesmen: M. Valach (SVK) / F. Winnekens (GER)

Canada was in the driver's seat from the first puck drop. The teams felt each other up a bit at first but then Canada went into overdrive and the Swedish defense was not able to keep up with the speedy Canadian forwards. Derek Roy opened the scoring after a great pass by Marty St.Louis left the net wide open. Sweden got a chance to equalize in powerplay later in the period, but did not manage to pass Canada's puckstopper Dwayne Roloson.

The second period opened with a more defensively playing Canada and Sweden trying to score the equalizer. Canada's defense managed to keep the Swedish attackers in the corners and along the boards, and the ensuing shots didn't give Roloson any problems. Half way through the period it was Canada who first scored a second and less than a minute later a third goal. Content with a safe lead they sat back and concentrated on keeping Swedish scoring chances to a minimum.

The third period continued as the second ended, with Sweden chasing Canada's lead and trying to put a puck in the net behind Roloson. Loui Eriksson managed to score a goal off a rebound six minutes in on the third period, but that was as close as Sweden got this year.

The fourth straight semi-final game between Canada and Sweden ended with the third straight win for Canada.