LeBlanc Good for an Advance : Hockey: Goaltender continues his sharp play and Young scores twice as the United States qualifies for the medal round with an impressive 4-1 victory over Finland.

Ray LeBlanc seems baffled by the fuss being made over him, surprised that he should be celebrated for merely doing his job--stopping pucks for the U.S. Olympic hockey team.

“I’ve thought nothing of being a hero,” he said. “I just play the game and go out and prepare for the next one.”

LeBlanc’s preparation paid off in a 29-save performance Thursday and a 4-1 victory over Finland at the Olympic Arena, putting the United States into the medal round for the first time since Herb Brooks’ team won the gold medal at Lake Placid, N.Y., in 1980.

Two goals by Scott Young, the second a shorthanded breakaway orchestrated when he intercepted a pass by defenseman Timo Jutila, highlighted an entertaining blend of solid defensive play and opportunistic offensive dashes. With a 3-0 record, the United States is off to its best start since the 1960 team swept five games to win the gold medal at Squaw Valley, Calif.

“Everybody on the team is excited with what’s going on, but we also have to take things in perspective,” said Young, who played on the U.S. team that finished seventh at Calgary in 1988. “No matter if we’re first, second or third (in Group A), we could still be eliminated in the first game of the medal round because of the new (single-elimination) format, so we can’t get too high.”

That restraint was far from his mind at the end of the game, when he joined the throng of players patting LeBlanc on the back and congratulating each other with high-fives.

“I was a fan in 1980, and I remember how good a feeling it was. To be in the same position they were feels great,” Young said. “The ’88 team was great. We could score goals like crazy and we had two great goaltenders (Mike Richter and Chris Terreri), but we didn’t have anyone heat up as much as Ray LeBlanc is right now. In a short tournament, a hot goalie is everything. Hopefully, he can stay this hot.”

LeBlanc, shown a film of Jim Craig’s goaltending exploits at Lake Placid as a motivational ploy three days before the Olympics, has stopped 78 of 79 shots in the last seven periods and has not given up a goal in the third period. He was blameless on Finland’s goal Thursday, a superb backhander lofted over him by former King Mikko Makela after Makela skated past defenseman Scott Lachance at the U.S. blue line.

“I think they played good. The goalie showed a lot of character,” said Makela, whose goal forged a 1-1 tie at 9:42 of the second period. “We just couldn’t get our game going. After my goal, I thought we got momentum going, but we couldn’t bury those couple of chances we had against their goalie.

“All credit for the U.S. They played a hell of a game. They give 100% all on defense, all on offense. They’re a good team. If they play the same way through the whole tournament, they can do well. But don’t count us out yet.”

Counting on LeBlanc has proved a successful strategy for Coach Dave Peterson. “Defensively, we played quite aggressively tonight,” Peterson said, “and the few times we did break down, Raymond came up big. It was a good performance by all four lines and seven defensemen.”

LeBlanc lauded his defensemen for giving him a clear view of the puck. “They let me see the shots and didn’t let anyone set up in the slot, which is great, especially against a team like Finland,” he said. “I don’t think I’m the only one doing my job out there. Everyone’s doing their jobs. When we need a big goal, we get it.”

Young opened the scoring with a 45-foot shot from the right wing that got through the pads of goalie Markus Ketterer at 18:44 of the first period. Makela matched that after Finland had wasted a power play, but Tim Sweeney regained the lead for the United States four minutes later when he got behind defenseman Arto Ruotanen and put in a backhand behind Ketterer.

Sean Hill’s power-play goal, scored off a scramble in front of the net at 9:52 of the third period, sent the flag-waving U.S. fans into a frenzy. They reached that emotional high again at 13:08, after Young stepped between Jutila and Simo Saarinen to steal the puck and finished it off with a flourish.

“The U.S. is a good team, with good skating. They are playing well and with a good attitude,” Finnish assistant coach Sakari Pietila said. “They played really well in front of a great goalie.”

Such praise makes LeBlanc feel more uncomfortable than the most blistering slap shot.

“We’ve had stretches like this, but it was tough to do it every game when we played NHL teams,” said LeBlanc, who will be given a chance by the Chicago Blackhawks after the Olympics. “Now, we’ve put together some games when we’ve had a lead and played really well in the third period. Our preparation has been good and we’ve been playing really well in the third period. Each game it seems the third period is our best period.”

Thursday’s effort was by far the U.S. team’s best. “Not taking anything away from Italy and Germany, we feel Finland is one of the better teams in the tournament,” Young said. “They’ve always been in the running with Czechoslovakia, Canada and Sweden. We felt this would be the true test. We knew everybody was going to gauge us on this game.”