Russia no match for revitalized Team Canada

VANCOUVER - Looks like Martin Brodeur was right.

"Maybe it's good we lost," he said after Team Canada's 5-3 defeat to Team USA on Sunday. "We need to play more games."

That extra game, an 8-2 victory over Germany yesterday, set up what many in Canada may someday view as the game that swung these Olympics, a 7-3 thrashing of Russia last night, a thrashing that wasn't even that close.

From the opening whistle, Canada swarmed and toyed with its once-feared foes, scoring three goals within the first 10 minutes of the game as a crazed home crowd shrieked with delight.

This wasn't a game for a gold medal, the way everyone had it pegged when the Olympics began. But given the ease by which the Russians went down, and the struggling nature by which they entered this tournament, maybe everyone had it wrong.

Team Canada built its lead to 4-1 after one period, and it was 6-1 just 4 minutes into the second period.

"To get off to that start was obviously big for us," said the Flyers' Mike Richards. "We didn't have any holes in our game other than a couple of power-play goals. We were moving the puck well, that's what we have to do, get better throughout the tournament."

The two best teams in this tournament so far are Team Canada and Team USA. And while that order might have been in reverse Sunday, it is clear that Team Canada has cleared its collective heads. It's one thing to beat the Germans, 8-2. It's quite another to crush the Russians by an almost identical score.

"Chemistry is a big thing and I think you're starting to see people make plays because they know each other on the ice," Richards said.

Said Corey Perry, who scored two of Canada's goals: "Chemistry starts to build when you play games. In the short term you want guys to feed off each other. Continue to get better every night and keep moving on. We're starting to do that."

Starting? Since Sunday, Canada has outscored its opponents, 15-5. More important, it's getting dependable goaltending from Robert Luongo, who replaced Brodeur as the starting goaltender after Sunday.

Luongo has stopped 59 of 64 shots he has faced.

Russian goalie Evgeni Nabokov was replaced too, only in the middle of this game. Alex Ovechkin, who struck fear in hearts across this land, was not - it just seemed he was. The checking line that included the Flyers' Mike Richards made the NHL's most viewable star invisible, and most importantly, pointless.

Richards added an assist on Canada's third goal. Criticized early in the tournament for a lack of scoring depth, last night's score sheet looked like a roster.

Dan Boyle, missing for most of these Olympics, had two goals and an assist. "I'd been squeezing my stick," he said. "Tonight I just told myself to relax."

The only name missing was the captain, Sidney Crosby. "All right by me," he said, "when we have that result."

Tomorrow, Team Canada will play the winner of last night's game between Sweden and Slovakia. A win, an American win over Finland - which last night beat the Czech Republic, 2-0, on Niklas Hagman's power-play goal with 6:26 left in the third period and an empty-netter - and there will be a rematch between the North American neighbors for a gold medal Sunday.

"Trust in each other," said Scott Niedermayer. "Trust in our game plan. All these things are important."