How Swede It Isn’t

The U.S. hockey team’s problems Friday were obvious to Swedish center Mats Sundin.

“They were trying to find their game,” he said.

They’d better locate it soon. The final-round schedule affords the U.S. little time to scour the lost-and-found department for the stamina and verve it lacked in a tournament-opening 4-2 loss to the defending Olympic champions before a crowd of 9,985 at Big Hat.

While they were quick to note they could afford a loss in the round-robin phase because the first three games determine only the seedings for Wednesday’s quarterfinals, U.S. players didn’t want to get into bad habits that could cost them when single-elimination play begins.

“We’ve got to be a lot better defensively,” said defenseman Chris Chelios, who scored the game’s first goal, at 11:10 of the first period, when he blasted a shot past a screened Tommy Salo. “We’ve got enough skill up front to get some goals. We can’t give up goals and make defensive mistakes.”

They were guilty on both counts, wandering around the wide, international-sized ice surface and squandering energy they could have used in the second and third periods, when Sweden settled into a puck-control game and frustrated the tiring Americans.

Sundin, celebrating his 27th birthday--and undoubtedly celebrating the novelty of having talented teammates instead of the sad-sack Toronto Maple Leaf lineup--applied the final flourish when he dashed away from Adam Deadmarsh, took a pass from Mikael Andersson and lifted a backhander over a helpless Mike Richter at 17:04 of the final period.

“I could have had a couple more,” Sundin said. “But the important thing is it’s nice to have a good start. . . . I didn’t think the big ice would be a big issue, but I played today and now I think it is a big difference. The U.S. really had a tough time getting used to the bigger ice.”

The Americans said they were awed by the occasion--and by their Swedish opponents’ skills. Even though many Americans and Swedes are teammates in the NHL--including Deadmarsh and Swedish center Peter Forsberg with the Colorado Avalanche--the Swedes seemed to flourish playing with their compatriots and found a comfortable and longer-lasting rhythm.

“We kind of got mesmerized by the European style,” Deadmarsh said. “We’ve got to stick to the North American style, dump it in and grind it out.”

Said U.S. defenseman Bryan Berard, who took several shifts at right wing as Coach Ron Wilson experimented with his lineup: “We’re definitely disappointed. We knew Sweden is a good team--they can cycle the puck well and forecheck well. We’ve got to get better as a team and do what we do best, which is skating.”

They were flying in the first period, which blended NHL ruggedness with European skill. The line of Keith Tkachuk, Mike Modano and Bill Guerin generated most of the U.S. offense: Chelios was set up for his goal by Tkachuk, and after Daniel Alfredsson brought Sweden even during a power play with a well-placed wrist shot just inside the left post at 12:26, Modano put the U.S. ahead again. With Salo out of his net to play a shot by Guerin that was deflected on the way to the net, Modano had an empty cage and didn’t miss, at 12:50.

“We had good pressure in the first half of the game,” Modano said, “but then it seemed like we got a little tired. We got beat to loose pucks and they made some great plays.”

Patrick Kjellberg, one of five non-NHL players on Sweden’s roster--although he did play seven games for Montreal in the 1992-93 season--tied the score at 1:50 of the second period when he rifled a shot over Richter’s glove. Alfredsson, the Ottawa Senator right wing who was the NHL’s rookie of the year in 1995-96, put Sweden ahead to stay at 11:33. Forsberg did all the work, controlling the puck behind the net and muscling past Mathieu Schneider and Doug Weight before throwing it in front for Alfredsson to prod past Richter.

“We came into this realizing that Sweden was one of the best teams,” Wilson said. “I’d say we came out of this thinking that the Swedes might be the best team.

“We might have to reassess the way we play. We lost our patience as the game wore on. Some of that was due to the Swedes. We lost our discipline, to their credit.”

Swedish players, however, were hesitant to take credit for being the top team. “The U.S. and Canada are still the favorites,” Salo said. “This game was good for our confidence but we’re still the underdogs.”

The U.S. is the undeniable favorite Saturday against Belarus, whose lineup includes only two NHL players--Mighty Duck defenseman Ruslan Salei and King left wing Vladimir Tsyplakov. But no one on the U.S. team was counting on anything.

“We didn’t do an awful lot wrong,” Richter said, “we just didn’t do as many things right as we wanted to.”

Said winger John LeClair: “It might not be the worst thing in the world for us to lose a game. It could straighten us out. Maybe a loss can help us.”