Helsinki, Finland – Evgeni Malkin recorded a hat trick to lift Russia over Finland, 6-2, and into the gold medal game at the 2012 World Championship.
Malkin hurt his left arm after falling into the boards in the second period, but came back to help Russia finish off the reigning gold medalist.
Sergei Shirokov had a goal and an assist for the Russians, who will try to capture their first world title since 2009. Alexander Ovechkin and Denis Kokarev also lit the lamp.
Semyon Varlamov made 29 saves for Russia, which will play either the Czech Republic or Slovakia in the gold medal game.
Janne Niskala and Mikael Granlund scored for Finland, which beat Sweden in last year's title match. Petri Vehanen stopped 17-of-23 shots.
It looked good for Finland early on, with Niskala scoring 7:28 into the first period.
But the Russians showed why they went undefeated in preliminary-round action by scoring six unanswered goals.
Malkin, the reigning NHL scoring champion and current tournament points leader, put home a rebound at the 15:33 mark to make it a 1-1 game.
With just 54 seconds to play in the first, Malkin fired home a shot from the slot for a 2-1 lead.
After Ovechkin made it 3-1 at the 9:47 mark of the second, Malkin came back from his injury to complete his hat trick. Malkin's one-timer from the top of the right circle sailed past Vehanen with 2:14 to go.
Shirokov and Kokarev scored in the third period for Russia, while Granlund lit the lamp for Finland.
