A Dream Team Nightmare, 4-1

NAGANO, Japan —  All is right again in North Bay and South Porcupine, in Toronto, Vancouver and all Canadian towns and cities in between. For a day, at least, Canada could again say it is the best at the game it claims to have given the world, recording a 4-1 victory over the United States on Monday in the final round-robin game of the first Olympic hockey tournament to include NHL stars.

Keith Primeau scored a short-handed goal in the second period and at even strength early in the third period to boost Canada to a 3-0 record and supremacy in Group D. The U.S. (1-2) played well in defeat, but couldn’t get anything past goaltender Patrick Roy until Brett Hull angled a shot over Roy’s shoulder with 5:56 to play. Nothing might have been enough to overcome a gritty Canadian team determined to erase the sting of losing to the U.S. in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey.

Canada will face the fourth-place team in Group C--probably Kazakhstan--in Wednesday’s single-elimination quarterfinals. The U.S. was looking at a third-place finish and a meeting with the second-place team in Group C, the loser of Monday’s game between the Czech Republic and Russia. However, the matchups depended on the Czech-Russia and Sweden-Belarus games.

The crowd of 9,863 at Big Hat arena was treated to an outstanding game that was everything the NHL could be but too often isn’t. Both teams played strong but imaginative defense, banging bodies and taking hits without pause. Those chanting “USA!” vied to be heard over the roars of Canadians waving their red-and-white flag in support of the team that embodies the hopes of a hockey-mad nation, creating an electrifying atmosphere that was matched by the performances on the ice.

The new Olympic format allows for adjustments and losses in the first three games, but the U.S. will have no margin for error when the quarterfinals open.

“This is almost like the exhibition season. The real games begin with the quarterfinals,” U.S. Coach Ron Wilson said before the game. “You’re trying to put a team together in three games.

“We didn’t have to go 6-0 to win the gold medal. You can be 3-3 and be awful as long as you’re firing on all cylinders in the tournament.”

Wilson gave players a day off Sunday, saying they would gain nothing from practicing when they were tired from the rigors of the condensed NHL schedule, the long trip to Japan and back-to-back games Friday and Saturday. It was probably just as well, since several players reportedly were out partying at a Nagano bar until the wee hours of Sunday morning.

Not that staying out is illegal or unprecedented, and these are not 18-year-old college kids who can be disciplined by a curfew.

But if the U.S. players were keeping late hours, it wasn’t reflected in their play in the early minutes of the first period. They played with poise in the early going, perhaps realizing they didn’t have to score on every shift and were better served by being patient and taking advantage of Canada’s mistakes.

Still, it was Canada that scored first, capping a sequence in which it withstood a barrage of shots during a 1-minute 40-second two-man U.S. advantage and turned up-ice to score 14 seconds after returning to equal strength.

With Joe Sakic in the penalty box for having slashed U.S. defenseman Gary Suter and Rob Zamuner joining him 20 seconds later for holding Doug Weight, Canada faced its first challenge. Coach Marc Crawford sent out Rob Blake, Ray Bourque and Steve Yzerman against John LeClair--a 38-goal scorer with the Philadelphia Flyers--Hull, a five-time 50-goal scorer, center Doug Weight and Norris Trophy winners Brian Leetch and Chris Chelios.

The U.S. kept the puck in Canada’s zone for the first 68 seconds of the two-man advantage, firing at goaltender Roy from every angle and with blistering impact. Roy, the three-time Stanley Cup winner, stood tall through the barrage, making pad saves on Chelios and Leetch (twice) and getting some luck when a shot by Hull from the left circle clanged off the post. Roars filled the arena when Zamuner scored at 16:30. Chosen for the team because of his defensive skills, Zamuner showed a nice offensive touch when he carried the puck up the left-wing boards and passed Sakic. Cutting toward the middle and losing Suter, who curled toward the right side, Sakic dropped a pass back to Wayne Gretzky, the trailer on the play. Gretzky, although no longer as formidable a scorer as in the past, is still an exceptional playmaker, and he passed to Zamuner for an easy chance in front of Richter.

Canada survived another spurt of offensive pressure by the U.S. thanks to Roy, who made two quick, consecutive saves on Keith Tkachuk from point-blank range to preserve the lead. Primeau gave Roy some breathing room by scoring his short-handed goal at 13:37.

Sakic, the Colorado Avalanche’s captain, padded Canada’s lead to 3-0 at 18:19 of the second period. He skated through the neutral zone and fooled U.S. defensemen Kevin Hatcher and Mathieu Schneider by slipping a backpass to Theoren Fleury. At full stride, Fleury ripped a shot from the right circle that Richter managed to block. However, the rebound popped to the left side where Sakic had only to tap it in.