Lindsey Vonn went down hard. Zach Parise made sure the U.S. men’s hockey team didn’t.

Hours after Vonn broke her right pinkie in a giant slalom crash, the hockey guys found themselves in trouble against Switzerland. The game was scoreless a couple minutes into the third period until Parise broke through. He added an empty-net goal in the closing seconds to seal a 2-0 victory and put the Americans into the semifinals.

The Canadians advanced, too, finally looking like the juggernaut they’re supposed to be — and they did it against Russia, the matchup many expected to be for the gold medal, but happened in only a quarterfinal.

Next up for the U.S. squad is Finland. NBC already has said it will show that game live, in all time zones, at noon PST Friday. Canada advances to the other semifinal, against the winner of Wednesday’s late quarterfinal between Sweden and Slovakia.

Vonn’s status isn’t so clear. She landed on her left hip and battered her chin with a ski during her fall. Besides the finger, her back hurt, as did the bruised right shin that’s slowed her for weeks.

The cover girl coming into these Winter Games, Vonn’s scorecard so far shows two medals (a gold and a bronze) and two wipeouts. It wasn’t known if she will ski her final event — the slalom — on Friday.

The second leg of the giant slalom was delayed until Thursday because of fog so thick “you cannot really see the snow on the ground,” a Finnish skier said. More delays could give Vonn more time to heal, as happened with her shin, but there isn’t much time left in the Olympics.

Also Wednesday, Canada’s victory in women’s bobsled moved the hosts into a tie with the United States and Germany for the most gold medals with seven. So much for that “Own the Podium” concession speech, eh? Canadians had their best day yet, snagging a gold, two silver and a bronze. Both the seven golds and the four medals in one day matched Winter Olympics records for the hosts.

Americans added to their overall haul with bronze in women’s bobsled and short-track speedskating’s women’s relay. The total is up to 28, inching toward their record of 34 set at Salt Lake City in 2002.

Germany has 24 medals, perhaps missing another when a bobsled crew lost control on its final run, the brakeman flying out the back and the driver flying down the course inside the sled. Both walked away.

HOCKEY

Swiss goalie Jonas Hiller kept the Americans scoreless by stuffing Parise several times, with two more of Parise’s shots clanking against the goal posts.

Then there was the shot that Hiller tried swatting away, but it went off his shoulder and into the net — a millisecond or two after the second period ended.

“We kept saying on the bench, ‘Don’t get frustrated,”’ Parise recalled.

Parise finally scored 2:08 into the final period by redirecting a shot by Brian Rafalski early in a power play. Switzerland fought to tie it, but Ryan Miller made 19 saves and Parise scored again with 11.2 seconds left. The Americans are two wins from their first Olympic gold medal since the “Miracle on Ice” in 1980.