‘94 WINTER OLYMPICS / LILLEHAMMER : Sweden Puts U.S. Backs Against Wall as Rally Fails : Hockey: After a 6-4 defeat, the Americans need at least a tie against Italy on Monday in order to make the medal round.

Mike Dunham saw it all through closed eyes, saw himself skating to the bench to be replaced by an extra skater and rejoicing when his teammates tied their game against Sweden and clinched a berth in the Olympic tournament’s medal round.

If not for Hakan Loob’s ricochet goal with 59 seconds to play, the U.S. goaltender would have been pulled and his vision might have come true. Unable to bear the real sight of Loob and Sweden celebrating the final goal of their 6-4 victory Saturday, Dunham retreated into his imagination, pressing his face and body into the ice for nearly a minute before rising wearily to his feet.

“It was just frustrating,” Dunham said. “We showed them how we could play, but we ran out of time. We had them on the ropes.”

Instead, it’s the Americans who are reeling and need a tie or a victory Monday against Italy to earn the fourth Group B playoff berth.

Despite twice pulling within a goal in the third period, they were unable to repeat the game-tying rallies they staged against France, Slovakia and Canada and fell to 0-1-3. Italy (1-3-0), seeded eighth here, has never made the medal round.

“We haven’t played a full 60 minutes in the four games we’ve played,” said wing John Lilley, who gave the six-seeded U.S. team a short-lived lead Saturday when he tucked a shot behind Tommy Salo’s left arm at 10:32 of the first period.

“We’ve got to play a full 60 minutes against Italy and after that. If we play our game the way we can, use our speed and play with emotion, we can win. If we don’t, who knows what’s going to happen?”

What will happen is a replay of Saturday’s roller-coaster ride.

Although Lilley’s goal should have boosted the team’s confidence, the emotional spark flickered and died within minutes. With no one to rekindle it, Sweden, 3-0-1 and one of three undefeated teams remaining in the tournament, scored four consecutive goals. The first three came from right wing Patrik Juhlin, a 1989 Philadelphia Flyer draft pick.

“We gave them a little too much respect. They’re a great team and we kind of laid off and were playing a little passive,” left wing Brian Rolston said.

“You can’t do that. We played with them in the third period and had them.

“The emotion’s got to be there. I think other teams are more talented than us, but if we play with that American emotion, we can play with them.”

They played nearly evenly with Sweden only because team captain Peter Laviolette gave them an emotional boost with a locker-room speech during the second intermission.

Laviolette, who rejoined the Olympic program to avenge his disappointment over a seventh-place finish in 1988, told his teammates that while the game might be lost, they could keep their self-respect by playing the final 20 minutes with some life.

They almost salvaged both the game and their pride. Peter Ferraro’s breakaway at 3:25 and Rolston’s spin-around at 5:29 cut Sweden’s lead to 4-3, but Roger Johansson’s power-play shot rebuilt a two-goal difference at 9:25. The United States had an answer for that, too, on a wrist shot by Rolston from the right circle at 10:51.

“Peter told us, ‘I don’t care if we lose, 10-1, as long as we show some heart,’ ” Dunham said.

“I think we felt more relaxed after that.”

Said Juhlin: “We thought after two periods that the match was over. We backed off too much and they scored two goals and showed a lot of heart.”

But not enough heart. “I thought our play in the third period was the kind of emotionally charged play my team has to play,” said U.S. Coach Tim Taylor, a stoic type not given to yelling encouragement behind the bench.

“(After the game) we were talking about playing with that kind of emotional charge from the minute the first puck is dropped until the 60th minute.”

Laviolette was on the ice in the 60th minute Saturday, watching helplessly as Loob picked up a puck Todd Marchant had tried to bang off the boards and flicked it off Dunham and into the net.

“You’re talking about a roomful of 20-year-olds. You’ve got to give everybody credit for playing with a lot of heart and desire,” said Laviolette, the team’s elder statesman at 29.

“We’ve got to come out from the beginning and do that next time.

“As a group, we have to remember what we did in the third period. For us right now, the tournament starts (Monday).

“If we don’t do it, then we didn’t play well enough to get where we want to go.”