U.S. hockey passes blame better than puck

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“We never seemed to get it on track throughout the tournament,” Laviolette said. “From the start tonight, I thought we were standing instead of skating.”

It didn’t help that goalie Rick DiPietro wasn’t at the top of his game. After making three consecutive starts in the preliminary round, he had two days off before facing Finland.

He said he didn’t lose his edge, but he also didn’t reclaim the form he showed earlier when he allowed only five goals in three games. That was only good enough to earn the Americans one win and a fourth-place finish in their pool.

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All four U.S. losses were by one goal.

“When you lose and don’t get a chance to play for a medal, it’s the most disappointing thing that could happen in hockey right now for me,” the New York Islanders goalie said.

The Americans pulled DiPietro in the last 90 seconds, and Finnish goalie Antero Niittymaki made 15 of his 25 saves in the third period to hold off the United States’ final push.

Gionta closed the gap to 4-3 with 4:27 left. But Finland (6-0), which came in with a 19-2 scoring edge, closed down on defense in the final period and recorded only three shots.

Ville Peltonen gave Finland its first lead when he rolled a puck between DiPietro’s pads, and Salo made it 2-0.

The Americans rallied, however, on goals by Mike Knuble and Mathieu Schneider. But Jokinen netted his first goal at 5:06 of the second period and then made it 4-2 with 2:50 remaining in the frame.

United States penalties throughout the third period — including a 4-minute, high-sticking call against Derian Hatcher, who knocked out two of Teemu Selanne’s teeth and bloodied his mouth — cut off any chance of a comeback. That left Waddell hunched over in his seat and staring at the floor.

Laviolette tried to shake life into his team early by calling his timeout. He yelled curses as he face turned red, and finished the tirade with an emphatic, “Let’s Go!”

And go they did, right out of the tournament.

“I felt like it was not going anywhere,” Laviolette said. “They were clearly on top of their game, and we were clearly sitting back on our heels. We needed to get going before this got too far out of hand.”

The United States, 6-3-2 against Finland in the Olympics, got within 2-1 when Knuble deflected in Schneider’s drive at 13:14 of the first. The Americans tied it when Schneider scored just 1:29 into the second period.

Finland, which eliminated the United States during the semifinals of the World Cup of Hockey in 2004, then got the deciding offense from Jokinen. It was the Finns’ first victory in these Olympics decided by fewer than two goals.

“We know we can beat anybody when we play on our level, and we didn’t even didn’t have to play that well tonight,” Selanne said.

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