Team USA just upset the Canadians in their own house:
Reporting from Vancouver, Canada – Wearing uniforms that honored the Olympic champion 1960 U.S. hockey team and sending out a lineup that included the son of a member of the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” team, the current edition of the U.S. Olympic team made a little history of its own Sunday.
In an exhilarating game that often went end to end without affording fans a moment’s pause to marvel at the world-class skills on display, the underdog Americans rode a two-goal, one-assist performance by Brian Rafalski to a 5-3 win over Canada before a stunned crowd at a jam-packed Canada Hockey Place. The victory gave the U.S. a bye into the quarterfinals and sentenced Canada to compete in a play-in game on Tuesday.
Rafalski, of the Detroit Red Wings, scored the first two U.S. goals and assisted on the fourth, by Chris Drury. Also getting an assist on that goal was Ryan Suter, son of 1980 U.S. defenseman Bob Suter.
Canada’s Sidney Crosby made the last few minutes tense by redirecting a Rick Nash pass beyond the reach of U.S. goalie Ryan Miller, but Miller held on through a fusillade of shots and Ryan Kesler scored into an empty net with 44.7 seconds to play. Canada outshot the U.S., 14-3, in the third period and 45-22 in the game.
Rafalski, the oldest player on the U.S. team at age 36, helped the U.S. defeat Canada for the first time in seven tries–since the U.S. prevailed at Squaw Valley in 1960. Canada had won five games and the teams had played one tie in the interim. Rafalski has four goals in this tournament, as many as he had scored in 57 games with Detroit this season.