WINTER OLYMPICS : U.S. Comes Back, but Soviets Don’t Allow a Miracle

Maybe the accepted wisdom is right, and it truly is folly to try to run with the Lakers, play longball with the Yankees, or trade punches with Tyson. But there’s always someone brazen or bold or crazy enough to try, and those rare nights when they succeed constitute some of the most enduring memories in sport.

The United States hockey team did not succeed here Wednesday night. Team USA was beaten, 7-5, by the Soviet Union--still the heavyweight champions of the hockey world--in their first Olympic meeting since Team CCCP ran into an American ambush in Lake Placid, N.Y., eight years ago.

But while ABC, the quasi-sponsor of the Olympics, apparently no longer believes in miracles, cutting away from the game with the Soviets ahead, 6-2, after two periods, Team USA was about as willing to admit a lost cause as Gary Hart.

Two U.S. goals later, and the TV cameras were back. One more U.S. goal, Soviet Coach Viktor Tikhonov was signaling for a timeout, and what had been a red menace was close to being crimson with embarrassment.

“One more time,” the red-white-and-blue wavers in the sellout crowd of 19,000 at the Saddledome chanted, and one more time, the best player on the ice responded.

Viacheslav Fetisov may someday play in the United States, for the New Jersey Devils, no less, the National Hockey League team that holds his rights. But for now, the closest thing to Bobby Orr on either side of the Iron Curtain is still cutting the ice for Mother Russia.

And Wednesday, the Soviet defenseman severed the last strand of American hopes for a comeback when he rushed past U.S. winger Todd Okerlund, faked U.S. defenseman Brian Leetch, and slipped the puck under U.S. goalie Chris Terreri with 2:01 left to play.

The goal was Fetisov’s second of the night. He also assisted on three others and was the single reason the Soviets were able to emerge with their honor intact. That used to be the job of Vladislav Tretiak, the world’s greatest goalie, but Tretiak is out of the puck-stopping business and was in a Calgary department store autographing books Wednesday.

Team USA came out of the game with its second straight loss--it lost to the Czechs by the same score two nights before and must beat Norway, and then West Germany by two goals, to advance to the medal round. But while doubts may remain about their ability--particularly on defense--there can be no question about their mettle.

“I thought we had a great game the other night,” said Team USA assistant coach Ben Smith, who appeared at a postgame press conference in place of head coach Dave Peterson.

“But this one outdid it for drama and exposure,” he said. “I get the feeling this team doesn’t know any words that begin with the letter Q.”

If that’s the case, they won’t be winning any prizes soon on “Wheel of Fortune.” But they came very close to unscrambling the Soviets, who seemingly had the game in hand when they scored three goals, one on a power play, in a span of 4:22 of the second period.

ABC obviously thought so. When play resumed in the third period, there was Jim McKay, telling his audience “We’re going to take up the subject of figure skating.” Out came some canned footage, just when Team USA came to life.

“Give credit to our guys,” said Terreri, who could have come undone after the Soviets unloaded on him, Fetisov finishing the blitz by scoring on a changeup--he took a full windup, almost fanned, but got enough on his shot to propel it under the U.S. goalie.

“Most teams probably would have rolled over and died in the third period.”

Some teams would have been left for dead in the first period, when the Soviets took a 2-0 lead on a breakaway goal by Sergei Makarov at 7:23 followed just over two minutes later by a picture power-play goal by Aleksei Kasatonov. Fetisov had sent Makarov away on his goal by jumping on a U.S. turnover deep in the Soviet end, then hitting the Soviet winger in stride just before he crossed the red line.

“We’ve been talking since August, telling the guys, ‘You’ve got to be aware of the home run, you’ve got to be aware of the home run,” Smith said of Fetisov’s breakout pass.

“Well, they saw Mickey Mantle tonight.”

But while the U.S. skaters were seeing sluggers, the Soviets had their hands full with scrappers. A minute and a half into the second period, Team USA had its first goal, Lane MacDonald scoring the first of his two goals after defenseman Jeff Brown had smothered a Soviet clearing pass.

The Soviets went ahead by two again, 3-1, on a power-play goal by Kasatonov, his second goal of the night, at 8:58, but winger Allen Bourbeau drew Team USA to within one again at 11:40, sweeping the puck past Soviet goalie Sergei Mylnikov while lying flat on his back.

That’s when the Soviets struck with three quick jabs--goals by Valery Kamensky, Igor Larionov and Fetisov.

“It was a weird game,” Terreri said. “We just couldn’t get the bounces or the breaks. The Soviets are great counter-attackers. They press, press, press, then put it in the net.”

In the third period, however, Team USA proved that not all U.S. pressers work in dry cleaners.

First, it was MacDonald, banging home a rebound on a power-play at 3:15 of the second period. Then it was Scott Fusco, bursting through Fetisov and his partner, Igor Stelnov, to flip a shot over the left shoulder of Mylnikov.

Moments later, Team USA defenseman Brian Leetch hit the goalpost with a shot, and Tikhonov was calling for time.

“I was thinking, ‘Hey, they got to be jumpy,’ ” said Team USA general manager Art Berglund, who was sitting in the stands. “They were having trouble with our energy and our enthusiasm.

“Hey, we’re the Runnin’ Rebels. That’s the American way--run and shoot.”

The last shot that mattered, however, was fired by Fetisov, although ABC commentator Al Michaels reported that Peterson was overheard saying, “They have to cheat to win,” when the Soviets slipped Fetisov on the ice during a late-game scrum preceding a faceoff.

Berglund, too, had a few choice words afterward, regarding ABC’s coverage.

“That’s their problem,” he said, “but I’m disappointed in the way that ABC Sports does all that research, wants our time, and then doesn’t show the games here live, pulls away. If that in fact happened, I’m disappointed.”

When someone told Berglund that ABC President Roone Arledge criticized Team USA for not picking up more NHL players, Berglund angrily retorted:

“He shouldn’t have paid $309 million and expected us to bail them out. He could have sold the whole Olympics right there tonight. Not just sports, but American enthusiasm.”

But on this night, enthusiasm could only carry Team USA so far. The Legend of Lake Placid remains intact.