PROVO, Utah ? Nikolai Khabibulin stopped 41 shots, outdueling Dominik Hasek as Russia eliminated the defending Olympic champions from the Czech Republic 1-0 in the quarterfinals Wednesday.
Maxim Afinogenov scored the only goal in the second period of a rematch of the 1998 championship game in Nagano, won 1-0 by the Czechs on the strength of Hasek's outstanding play.
Once again, the longtime rivals' meeting was decided by goaltending ? but this time, Khabibulin put aside three days of mediocre play with a display of goaltending that was as impressive as Hasek's work in Japan.
The game wasn't decided until the frantic final minute, when Khabibulin made a breathtaking series of saves on point-blank chances for the Czechs. Patrik Elias, Petr Sykora and Jaromir Jagr were denied in the final 10 seconds during a wild scrum.
After Russia won a faceoff in its own zone with four seconds left and cleared the puck, Khabibulin pumped his pads in the air before he was mobbed by his teammates.
After allowing nine goals in his first three games and enduring plenty of criticism, Khabibulin made 16 saves in the third period to carry the Russians into the Friday's semifinals, when they'll likely face the United States in a rematch of last weekend's 2-2 tie.
Khabibulin sat out the games four years ago, still bitter over former Russian coach Viktor Tikhonov's decision to keep the gold medal Khabibulin earned as a third-string goalie on the gold medal-winning Unified Team in 1992.
In Utah, Khabibulin received a duplicate gold from the Albertville games ? and with his performance against the Czechs, he showed he's eager to earn another.
Russia went 1-1-1 in round-robin play, scoring just three goals in its previous two games and looking nervous throughout a 3-1 loss to Finland. The Russian roster of high-scoring NHL forwards again was silenced by Hasek and the Czech defense, but Khabibulin was simply unbeatable.
The nations were once bitter enemies, and Jagr still wears No. 68 in memory of the Soviet invasion of Prague in 1968. Players now describe it as a mostly friendly rivalry, but there was plenty of passion Wednesday.
The Czechs controlled play from the outset, with several odd-man rushes created by heady defensive plays. The Russians didn't get a shot until a power play 7 1/2 minutes in, but they killed off three minutes of 5-on-3 advantage for the Czechs spanning the first two periods.
The Russians got the only goal on a fortunate bounce. Afinogenov scored his first Olympic goal less than five minutes into the second with a puck that rolled right to his stick; his lightning-quick rebound shot beat Hasek before the goalie could move.
Afinogenov was moved up from the fourth line before the game to replace slumping Alexei Kovalev, who hit the crossbar on a breakaway chance against Hasek minutes later.
The Czechs, who outshot Russia 41-27, increased their attacks in the third period, but Khabibulin had an answer for everything. While Khabibulin made easy and difficult saves, Hasek slammed his stick on the ice in frustration.
The Czech Republic's loss kept the defending gold medalist out of the semifinals for the second straight Olympics. Sweden, the 1994 winner, lost in the quarterfinals at Nagano.