U.S. men's hockey is 2 wins from Olympic gold

The U.S. men's hockey team is just two wins away from its first Olympic gold medal since the "Miracle on Ice" in 1980 and will look to continue its winning ways Friday morning. After Russia's surprising elimination in Wednesday's quarterfinals, the semifinals will get underway with two excellent matchups, the United States vs. Canada and Finland vs. Sweden.

Here's a look at the semis, along with amNewYork's picks to win and meet in Sunday's gold-medal game (7 a.m., NBC/4).

U.S. VS. CANADA (Noon, NBC/4)

These two teams met in the gold medal game at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, with Canada edging the U.S., 3-2, in overtime. Although they have yet to lose in Sochi, Canada and its star-studded roster have vastly underperformed thus far, struggling against Norway, Finland and Latvia. After losing John Tavares to injury for the rest of the Olympics, Canada should still be able to score, but ultimately Team USA's balanced four-line attack and excellent defense will prevail in an upset. The U.S. proved in Saturday's 3-2 shootout win over Russia that they are not afraid of pressure and this is a perfect revenge game for them.

FINLAND VS. SWEDEN (7 a.m., NBCSN)

The story in this one is the goaltending matchup, as both goalies have been fantastic for their respective countries thus far. Finland's Tuukka Rask (Bruins) is 2-1 in Sochi but is coming off a 37-save effort in Wednesday's shocking 2-1 upset over Russia, while Sweden's Henrik Lundqvist (Rangers) improved to 4-0 with two shutouts and a .949 save percentage in the Olympics after blanking Slovenia on Wednesday. "King Henrik" will shine and Sweden's injury-ravaged forwards will find a way to pull this one out.