Swiss provide another stern test for Americans

It wasn't easy. Thank goodness.

The U.S. men's hockey team may have survived a scare from Switzerland and its game-stealing goaltender, Jonas Hiller, but it is just what the Americans needed.

Their 2-0 win over Switzerland was a struggle, with Hiller turning aside 42 shots and the U.S. only breaking through 2:08 into the third to break the tension - and pipe down the pro-Canada crowd that adopted the Swiss in yesterday's quarterfinal.

Nothing should be coming simply or easy to the U.S. now, not after fighting hard for four straight Olympic wins that included the upset of Canada on Sunday.

Ryan Miller continued his strong play, recording a shutout on only 19 saves, and one of the young talents, the Devils' Zach Parise, emerged from an Olympic slump to score both goals.

That could be crucial heading into tomorrow's semifinal date with Finland. Parise, with Devils teammate Jamie Langenbrunner and Avalanche center Paul Stastny, spearheaded a real No. 1 line, and U.S. coach Ron Wilson relied on his top line to generate chances and get the offense going. Along with top defense pair Ryan Suter and Brian Rafalski, the Americans seem to have found a group capable of dictating the play.

And, of course, the Americans had the worker bees to keep that one-goal lead intact. Chris Drury had five blocked shots among the 28 blocks (unofficial NBC count) the Americans had. That's not the work of a team that thinks it's in a cakewalk.

"Chris Drury blocks more shots than you guys make typos in a day," Wilson cracked to reporters, "and that's a phenomenal number."

Drury earned 13:15 of ice time yesterday, his highest total of the tournament and among the top six forwards in the game. Wilson has found a comfort level with his forward group, very much at the right time. Same with his seven-man defensive rotation, with Ryan Whitney sitting for much of the game.

Things may change, because the quality of opponent will now change. Nothing against the Swiss, but Hiller was the only reason yesterday's game was a game; the Swiss attack was fairly nonexistent, and now Mark Streit can return to the Islanders having captained another impressive Swiss Olympic team that did just about all it could with such limited talent.

In its two wins over Switzerland and one over Norway, the U.S. didn't face the same firepower that Canada brings, and in the U.S. win over the Canadians the Americans appeared to be overwhelmed at times. The Americans are still the least flashy, youngest team remaining in the Olympic final four, and Wilson and general manager Brian Burke can spend Thursday reminding the players that they still haven't won anything in advance of tomorrow's semi, which will be live on NBC all around the country.

That's a first for these Olympics. With some national attention, there's no time for a letup of effort.