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Behind a line of Mike Modano, John LeClair and Brett Hull, the team secures the top seed in its pool.
By DAMIAN CRISTODERO, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 19, 2002
WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah -- Nothing against Belarus, but the U.S. men's hockey team on Monday wanted to squash it like a bug.
Nothing against sportsmanship, but a gaping goal differential was the only way to ensure Russia wouldn't steal the top seed in pool play going into Wednesday's quarterfinals.
As it turned out, the United States (2-0-1) won its pool outright when Russia (1-1-1) fell to Finland later in the day. But the 8-1 victory at the E Center, highlighted by five third-period goals, was still a nice punctuation mark.
"That was our goal," forward Adam Deadmarsh said, "to come out on top."
The reward is a matchup against Germany, which finished last in its pool.
For the third consecutive game, coach Herb Brooks used a different goaltender, starting Tom Barrasso, who made 12 saves.
Who will start against Germany? Brooks was evasive, saying he has equal confidence in Barrasso, Mike Dunham and Mike Richter.
He also has to be confident in the line of center Mike Modano, John LeClair and Brett Hull. LeClair had two goals, giving him a team-high five, Hull had a goal and two assists and Modano had two assists, all of which came in the second period.
"It makes the game a lot easier," Modano said of playing on the line put together in the third period of Saturday's tie with Russia.
"John's really good down low and Brett's really good up high, so it allows me to roam and support those two. If I get the puck to either one of them, it's a great situation."
The line, and two third-period goals each from Bill Guerin and Scott Young, made the loss of forward Keith Tkachuk, out with a deep thigh bruise, easier to handle.
Not so easy was Belarus goaltender Andrei Mezin, who was brilliant, especially in the first period after Dmitry Pankov put Belarus ahead 20 seconds into the game.
The United States stormed Mezin, taking 10 shots in the next eight minutes. Mezin responded with save after spectacular save. He stopped LeClair four times in the period, Hull three.
"It was great to play against those guys," said Mezin, who made 40 saves as the United States outshot Belarus 48-13. "It was a perfect game. The best hockey."
Hull and the United States finally broke through in the second period with a whistling slap shot.
"I can't repeat what I was saying because it was about my 15th shot and there were still 40 minutes to play," he said. "It was one of those, "It's about time, let's go from here.' The longer it goes with them up 1-0, the tighter people get. You just need to get that one."
So the squashing could begin.