European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 18, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Swedes tie unbeaten . Leblanc stops 45 More Meribel France up Mikael Johansson scored with 21 seconds remaining monday night to Cap a three goal third period rally that lifted Sweden to a 3-3 tie with the United states in a hard hitting and at times mean spirited game to close out the opening round of the olympic hockey tournament. The americans frittered away a three goal Lead with bad penalties and shoddy defense but still came away with the top seed for the next round. Despite the three third period goals . Goalie Ray Leblanc turned in another tremendous performance turning aside 45 swedish lasts. The . Team at 4-0-1 bearers of the Best record in the 12-team tournament completed the round Robin portion in first place in the a division. It will open the medal round tuesday against Host France which at 2-3 is seeded fourth in the b division. Sweden 3-0-2, finished the opening round in second place in the a division and will open the medal round against Czechoslovakia on wednesday. Finland finished in third and Germany fourth in the a division. The . Team Defeated the swedes 32 in a Chippy game just Days before the Start of the olympics and the bad blood apparently carried Over into this contest. The game was played on the Edge for the entire 60 minutes although there were no fights. Goals by Clark Donatelli in the first Ted Donato in the second and Marty Mclnnis Early in the third built the Lead to 3-0 before the swedes finally managed to get a shot by Leblanc. Tommy Sjodin snapped Leblanc a bid for his third shutout in five games at 6 21 on a Power play connecting on a slap shot from the far Slot through a screen. Another bad penalty against the americans allowed Sweden to close within a i Oal. With Shawn Mceachern off for looking Hakan Loob rifled a slap shot into the stick Side Corner with 6 35 left. Sweden pulled its goalie with 1 27 left and Johansson connected for the tying russian skaters claim ice dance Albertville France a a russian couple skating sensuously to Bach out skated the French favourites and defending world champions monday night to win the Gold medal in ice dancing. Marina Klimova and Sergei Ponomarenko held onto their first place standing with a Brilliant free program sweeping All three portions of the Competition. Isabelle and Paul Duchesnay the Canadian born brother and sister duo that has captivated France were noticeably tense in performing a difficult and spectacular routine to the music from a West Side  they finished second in the free skate however to gain the Silver medal ahead of another unified team couple. A siberian skier Swo shed into Winter olympics history monday As siberian weather conditions forced the games first major schedule disruption. Heavy Snow and fog wiped out the women a super Grace and pushed Back the Speed skiing but it did no to prevent russians Raisa Smetanina from winning her record 10th medal this one in the women a Cross country ski relay. Neither did tired legs. Smetanina who turns 40 next week lost the Lead for the unified team while skiing the second of the four 5-Kilometer laps a it was very difficult for me because i realized that i  do As Well As i was hoping for Quot said Smetanina a five time olympian a but still in a very Happy because it May be my last Gold medal. Gunda Niemann on monday joined inside sports Janzen records first pea Triumph a Page 21 Navratilova sets Victory record a Page 21 historic goal earns tie for Hawks a Page 22 Depaul gets leg up on tourney a Page 22 goal after skating around the Back of the net and wrapping it behind Leblanc. The americans still raised their Sticks in Celebration after the final Buzzer knowing All they needed was a tie to finish first. Donatelli opened the scoring 36 seconds into the game Rushing to the net to re direct a entering pass from Tim Sweeney under goalie Roger Nordstrom. A minute and a half later . De Senseman Greg Brown went crashing face first to the ice after a Check behind the net by former National hockey league Forward Mats Naslund. Brown appeared unconscious As he played on the ice and minutes later arose wobbly and with a bloodied face. The initial report indicated he suffered a concussion and did not return. Instead of rallying the . Team Sweden spent the rest of the period blasting shots at Leblanc from every direction but again the career minor league goalie who has never played a minute of nil action turned Back each Advance. The stars and stripes february 18,1992 c Page 28lakers retire a no. 32�?T see Pogo 25 More olympics on Page 26 american Bonnie Blair As a double Gold medallist in Speed skating by leading a German sweep in the women a 5,000 meters. Niemann also has a Silver medal for Germany which padded its medals Lead and now has 21. The United states was in seventh place in the Overall medal count with six Matching its 1988 total. Amazingly Smetanina has now won a Gold medal in the same event 16 years apart. She owns a total of four golds five silvers and one Bronze medal not to mention 11 world championship medals. Mondays medal gave her one More than Sweden a Cross country great Sixten Jernberg who captured nine medals 4-32 in the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Winter games. She also was believed to be the oldest woman to win a Gold in the Winter games according to olympics record keepers sent scurrying to the archives. The a proc de Fern a Iron Rock at Meribel underwent an overnight freeze and then a storm that dumped 15 inches of Snow and fogged up the course for the women a super giant slalom race. Winds overnight reached 78 Mph on Alpine peaks. Training for Speed skiing also was postponed at Les arcs and officials pushed Back the Competition two Days to thursday. The unified team moved into second behind the germans with 17 medals after the ice dancing monday and a Istria was third with 16. Norway was next with 13, its Best since it took 14 at Grenoble in 1968. Japan held a big Lead Over Germany and Norway in the team nordic combined after mondays jumping portion which took place during a steady Snow on the 90-meter Hill at Cour Chevel. The . Team was a surprising fourth heading into tuesdays Cross country relay but was not expected to medal. Speed skater Dan Jansen a prospects for a Long sought olympic medal increased monday when his top rival Germany Suwe Jens Mey had to withdraw from tuesdays 1,000 meters because of the flu. Stars and stripes for Albertville american figure skating Champion Kristi Yamaguchi of Fremont calif., collects her thoughts after a sunday practice session at Albertville France. Yamaguchi will perform in Earnest tonight when the women open their Competition with the original program portion of their two performance medal run