U.S. Hockey Team Upsets Favorite Canada 5-3

VANCOUVER, British Columbia | The Americans didn’t believe in miracles. They just believed.

And they pulled off their biggest Olympic hockey upset since the 1980 Miracle on Ice, stunning Canada 5-3 on Sunday and advancing to the quarterfinals of an already mixed-up tournament.

Brian Rafalski scored two goals, Ryan Miller held off a flurry of shots, and the Americans quieted a raucous, pro-Canada crowd that came to cheer its dream team, only to see it upstaged by a bunch of unproven kids.

The underrated Americans were faster, more disciplined and more determined than Canada’s collection of all-stars.

Better, too.

“We know we can beat anybody now,” Rafalski said.

Canada outshot the United States 45-23 yet couldn’t beat Miller, the goalie the Americans thought could best stand up to all of Canada’s might. He did just that, making 42 saves in the victory of a lifetime.

“It’s probably one of the biggest games I’ve ever played,” Miller said. “When things happened, we responded. We didn’t get nervous or anxious. We kept playing.”

When Ryan Kesler scored in the final minute, the few U.S. fans who managed to get seats proudly waved their American flags, all their red, white and blue suddenly visible.

“You look up and everything’s red and white — so few American flags” at the start, said U.S. coach Ron Wilson, who also led the 1996 team that upset Canada in the World Cup. “We expected a hostile environment. The intensity of the game helped, too.”

Depending on the later Finland-Sweden game that concluded hockey’s Super Sunday in Vancouver, the United States could go into Wednesday’s quarterfinals not only as a group winner but as the top-seeded team, something almost no one predicted when the tournament began.

Canada, the gold-medal favorite, was expected to coast into the medal round. But now, after nearly losing to Switzerland and being outplayed on home ice by the Americans, it must win a play-in game Tuesday to reach the quarterfinal round.

“Just like everybody in this tournament, we’re playing to survive,” Canada coach Mike Babcock said. “If you lose, you go home.”

The Canadians still could win a gold medal but now face a much tougher road.

“We’re here to be the last ones standing, and we’re still alive,” Canadian goalie Martin Brodeur.