For Selanne, Only Names Have Changed

Mighty Duck right wing Teemu Selanne thought representing his native Finland in the Olympic hockey tournament would provide a happy change from the dismal routine of playing for a losing team that is suspect defensively and can’t get its act together.

After Finland’s 4-3 loss to Russia in a surprisingly feisty game at Big Hat, which dropped its round-robin record to 0-2, he’s thinking again.

“It’s the same old story like I have with the Ducks. We played poorly defensively and made a couple of mistakes and we are losing,” said Selanne, who had three assists Sunday but couldn’t single-handedly stem the Russian offensive tide.

“With a 2-0 lead, we should just play so smart defensively that they don’t have any chance,” he said. “The Russians have some weak holes. We lost because we did some mistakes.”

Sounds like many of the post-game comments he has made in Anaheim. Despite the sensational play of Selanne, who leads the NHL in goals with 41 and points with 68, the Ducks were one point out of a playoff spot at the Olympic break and ranked 23rd defensively with a 2.98 goals-against average.

“Sure. Just take out your tape recorder and press ‘Play’ and it’s the same stories,” Selanne said.

There’s still time for Finland to write a happy ending to its Olympic story. And the spectacular fashion in which Selanne combined with linemates Saku Koivu of Montreal and Jere Lehtinen of Dallas on all three Finnish goals gave even Selanne reason for a bit of optimism.

“We did enough good things out there, and we have to take confidence from the things we did good,” said Selanne, who set up in the left-wing circle and found Koivu for Finland’s first power-play goal, at 6:11. On the second power-play score, he passed to Koivu behind the goal line, and Koivu found Lehtinen for a quick shot inside the left post at 7:04. His third assist, at 8:24 of the second period, came at even strength after he stole the puck behind the net and fed Lehtinen, who beat goaltender Andre Trefilov to the stick side for a 3-1 Finland lead.

“We have to pick up our game and try to learn to win,” Selanne said. “There has to be enough time. We did a lot of good things, but we have to play way better defensively.”

Once the Russians got organized defensively and got their penalty killing sorted out, they began to generate more offensive chances and stormed back into the game.

Vancouver right wing Pavel Bure, skating as well as he ever has after knee injuries, cut Russia’s deficit to 2-1 with a power-play goal at 13:36 of the first period when he cut toward the middle from the left-wing boards and faked several defenders before blasting a shot between goalie Jarmo Myllys’ shoulder and the post.

Although Finland reestablished its two-goal lead on Lehtinen’s second goal, Sergei Nemchinov made it 3-2 when he slotted a backhander between Myllys’ legs at 9:31 of the second period. Alexei Yashin of Ottawa, who had shot wide on a penalty shot in the first period, made up for that by tying the score at 15:03 during a two-man Russian advantage. Center Alexei Morozov of the Pittsburgh Penguins scored the game-winner off the rebound of a shot by Valeri Zelepukin that had hit the post.

It was the second solid victory of the tournament for Russia, which opened with a 9-2 rout of Kazakhstan. Its team is nothing like the precise, powerful teams of the old Soviet Union, which won seven gold medals--plus another as the Unified Team in 1992. However, its resilience and the ruggedness players have acquired in the NHL should stand them in good stead in a tournament brimming with NHL stars.

“We’ve got a good history, but hockey has changed right now,” said Trefilov, who stopped 30 shots. “The Czech team is good, Finland is good. We’ve got history, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to play good.”