Selanne sets Olympic mark as Finland routs Germany

Teemu Selanne became the all-time leading scorer of Olympic hockey as Finland downed Germany 5-0 Friday night.

Selanne, in his fifth Olympic appearance, assisted on Kimmo Timonen’s second power-play goal of the second period to give him a tournament best 37 points.

“That was obviously one thing we wanted to get tonight, to get a point for him,” captain Saku Koivu told TSN.

Niklas Backstrom, who got the nod in goal over starter Mikka Kiprusoff, made 24 saves for the shutout.

The Finns got on the board at 4:21 of the first on Tuomo Ruutu’s power-play goal, and Timonen would add two more in the second period with the man advantage to give Finland a 3-0 lead heading into the third.

Jarkko Ruutu and Joni Pitkanen also scored for the Finns, while Niklas Hagman had a pair of assists.

Goaltender Dimitri Patzold made 30 saves in a losing effort for Germany, who will play Belarus Satuday in search of its first win (0-2).

The Finns were 4-for-6 on the power play, outshooting the Germans 35-24. They improve to 2-0 in preliminary-round action, and will battle rival Sweden for the top spot in men’s Group C on Sunday.

Sweden beat Finland in the gold-medal game at the 2006 Turin Games.