USA 5
Germany 0
SALT LAKE CITY – The only miracle this time will be if the furniture holds up. This U.S. Olympic hockey team, unlike the last one that broke only chairs in the Olympic Village in Nagano, is instead relentlessly breaking the other team’s will.
Breaking the game open with a four-goal second period, the Americans rolled past Germany, 5-0, last night at the E Center, moving into the semifinals against Russia tomorrow. Brett Hull scored two goals and John LeClair, Tony Amonte and Jeremy Roenick once each against the overmatched Germans, one of two survivors from the qualifying tournament in the best-of-eight single elimination round.
If it seemed like only a matter of time until the U.S. put a team with little NHL presence away. The Swedes, who had looked so good in handling Canada in the opener, ran out of time yesterday afternoon in a shocking loss to Belarus, the other qualifier now getting the Canada-Finland winner in the other semifinal.
Twenty-two years after a group of college players gave the U.S. its last gold medal in a stupendous upset, a team of veteran NHL professionals are living down their poor performance in 1998 both on and off the ice. They have won nothing yet in what is now a one-and-done tournament, but none of the four teams left in it is playing as well as the U.S.
Mike Richter stopped 28 shots in recording the Americans’ second shutout – the other was by Mike Dunham over Finland – in the tournament.
With Daniel Kunce already off for interference, the Americans got an early break when John LeClair, lifting Erich Goldman’s stick, put it right into his own face, knocking out a tooth, sending the U.S.’ leading goal-scorer to the locker room, and the German defenseman away with a major and game misconduct.
The Americans couldn’t exploit a 27-second 2-man advantage, but then got another one when Kunce grabbed the puck and threw it out of the defensive zone. The U.S. point men closed in and passed too cautiously through much of the advantage until Jeremy Roenick one-timed a feed from Brian Rafalski under Marc Seliger as the German goalie came across.
The first goal, always a pacifier in an elimination game, belonged to the U.S. And whatever little tension had crept into the play of a team that had scored 16 goals in three games disappeared as quickly as it had come.
In the first minute of the second period, Chris Chelios, set up for a 45-footer by a Hull deflection from the opposite point, cranked up a 45-footer that went by three different sets of legs back to Hull, who redirected it behind Seliger. When Tony Amonte finished off a two-on-one from Roenick, the floodgates opened.
LeClair, hit again in the face, this time by Kunce, stayed on the ice and on the next shift, extricated a rebound of a Phil Housley shot from Seliger’s feet and turned to his forehand to made it 4-0. Hull, on fire, then picked a carom off the backboards of a Mike Modano miss and beautifully slid a no-look backhander through an opening only as wide as the puck between the goalie’s skate and the near post.
German coach Han Zach lifted Seliger for Robert Muller, whoever he is, but at 5-0, the Americans were in the complete control that had eluded the Swedes in the early game against Belarus. Sweden went down in flames, but the Americans stayed hot.
Richter, perhaps through lack of work, was off his feet too much, not looking anywhere near as sharp as in the 2-2 tie with the Russians, but the Germans were outclassed and unthreatening and the Americans home free. One more win tomorrow and they will play for the gold medal.