Max Pacioretty: 'United States relishing semi-final against Canada'

United States forward Max Pacioretty has said that the team is seeing their ice hockey semi-final against Canada as a "great opportunity".

The American side beat the Czech Republic 5-2 in the quarter-finals at the Winter Olympics earlier today, setting up a rematch of the 2010 final.

"It's a great opportunity. They're obviously the favorite coming into the tournament, and we've opened up a lot of eyes with our play, but we have more in the tank to give and to show," ESPN quotes the 25-year-old as saying.

"We keep getting better every game and hopefully we'll keep getting better after this one. All of us are the top players on our team back home and you come here and you're asked to play different roles."

Sweden and Finland will contest the other semi-final for a place in the gold medal game.