U.S. Gets Going in Time : Hockey: Trailing, 1-0, after one period, Americans defeat France, 4-1.

His team had not only fallen behind, it had fallen into a pit of self-pity. Of the two, the emotional sleepwalk was by far the more worrisome for U.S. Olympic hockey Coach Dave Peterson Tuesday.

So when he addressed his team after the first period of its quarterfinal playoff game against France, he made it clear he would not accept the flat effort his players had expended in the first 20 minutes at the Olympic Arena.

They were trailing, 1-0, at the time. They ended up winning, 4-1.

“Coach came in yelling and screaming and that woke us up,” winger Marty McInnis said.

Peterson demurred at that description of his speech. “I just thought we were a little lethargic and we needed to get into the game,” he said. “You have to remember, I’m kind of a loud guy, anyway.”

His words, at whatever volume, hit home. Keith Tkachuk’s power-play goal at 11:01 of thesecond period breathed life into the U.S. offense, and Steve Heinze and Ted Donato drove it into high gear with goals 3 minutes 16 seconds apart, powering the United States to a semifinal matchup Friday with the winner of today’s game between the Unified Team and Finland.

McInnis added a goal in the third period to improve the team’s tournament record to 5-0-1 and earn the respect of a feisty French team that was supported Tuesday by fans ringing cowbells and singing fight songs throughout the game.

Although the game ended with groups of players pushing and shoving in a display of acrimony that led some in the crowd of 6,100 to pelt the ice with seat cushions and soft-drink cups, the French players credited their opponents with a strong performance.

“They can make it all the way,” said French forward Patrick Dunn, a native of Trois Rivieres in the province of Quebec. “They have quite a good group of guys. They work hard and believe in themselves. Especially the way Ray LeBlanc is playing, they can really win a gold medal.

“They’re just in amazing shape, so big and strong. We thought we might get them on fatigue, because they played a tough game against Sweden (a 3-3 tie Monday). But they never stopped working. That’s what can win it for them, that they work so hard compared to the Swedes and Finns, who don’t have the pep these guys have.”

Their pep was absent in the first period Tuesday, as Stephane Barin rifled a shot over LeBlanc’s shoulder from the right side at 11:01 to give France a 1-0 lead. That marked the first time in 269 minutes 20 seconds that the Americans had trailed, going back to their tournament opener.

“I had the feeling some guys were saying, ‘I’m tired, the crowd is against us,’ ” Donato said. “(Peterson) came in and tried to alert us to the fact that we have to relax and that we didn’t play well. We started saying, ‘There’s 40 minutes left, and if we stay out of the (penalty) box, we can take them.’ ”

They tied it on Tkachuk’s close-in shot from the right side at 5:43 of the second period and surged ahead on Donato’s rebounder at 8:43. Donato was credited with another goal at 11:29, although it appeared McInnis had scored on a backhander.

There was no doubt, though, that the final U.S. goal belonged to McInnis. Donato began the play by stealing the puck in the neutral zone and quickly turned it into a two-on-one that his linemate converted from the right side.

“There’s a feeling that any night, it could be one line that scores. The next game it could be Shawn McEachern or Joe Sacco who have a big game,” said Donato, a Harvard graduate who was chosen by the Boston Bruins in the fifth round of the 1987 draft. “In a tournament like this, you need to have different people step to the forefront every night. You can’t just put it on a couple of people. . . .

“What people underestimate is the power of the team, of individuals bonding together in a tough situation. This team has a lot of character and the guys have been together through tough times. This team is on a mission, a team on a roll. Other people have the perception we’re playing over our heads, but we think we’re starting to play like we’re capable of.”

They’re also capable of foolish penalties. In the third period, France pulled goaltender Petri Ylonen with about five minutes to play and ended up with six skaters to the United States’ three. LeBlanc faced 36 shots, half of them in the final period, but held firm. “I didn’t even talk to him today,” Peterson said. “He’s on a roll and he doesn’t need me to confuse him.”