Canada falls to Team USA in men's Olympic hockey

BEIJING — Claude Julien had been pleased with Canada's performances from afar.

He was less than thrilled by what he saw up close.

Strauss Mann made 35 saves as the United States took advantage of a listless 20-minute stretch and some shaky Canadian goaltending Saturday to beat its North American rival 4-2 in men's hockey at the Beijing Olympics.

The 61-year-old Julien watched video of his team's practices as he recovered in Switzerland from a broken rib and punctured lung suffered in a sledding accident where he hit a tree during training camp.

Doctors eventually cleared the 2011 Stanley Cup winner before he boarded a flight to China and made a surprise return to the fold earlier this week.

Canada was a physical, grinding force in Thursday's 5-1 victory over Germany with its coach looking on from the stands, but couldn't do the same against a fast, skilled, young U.S. roster with plenty to prove.

"It wasn't our best," said Julien, whose team jumped out to an early lead, only to surrender the tying goal 70 seconds later. "Lost our momentum a little bit in that second half of the first. We came out in the second wanting to get our game back, but it took us another half period.

"That's where a lot of the damage got done."

Andy Miele, with a goal and an assist, Ben Meyers, Brendan Brisson and Kenny Agostino scored for the U.S. (2-0), which beat China 8-0 in its opener and sits in pole position for Group A's automatic quarterfinal berth.

Mat Robinson and Corban Knight replied for Canada (1-1). An unsteady Edward Pasquale made 23 saves in defeat.

"Fought the puck pretty much all night," said the 31-year-old reigning KHL goalie of the year. "Gave up two weak ones. If I make those two saves, we're 2-2 going into overtime."

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