With 'Axe' to grind, Sweden keeps rolling

TURIN -- P.J. Axelsson is a role player for the Bruins, and it's not as if his job description has been rewritten at Olympus. For the most part, the diligent, humble winger blends in more anonymously, surrounded by homeboy superstars Peter Forsberg, Mats Sundin, Daniel Alfredsson, and Nicklas Lidstrom.

Axelsson and his fellow Swedes yesterday earned a spot in the Games' gold medal final tomorrow, hammering the Czech Republic, 7-3. When it was over, coach Ben Gustafsson praised Axelsson for the very thing that has been his on-ice genetic blueprint for eight-plus seasons on Causeway Street.

''If I could pick one player [to single out], it would be Per Johan Axelsson," said Gustafsson, after watching Axelsson contribute a goal and an assist in the shellacking of the '98 Olympic champs. ''He's somebody who gave a little extra."

Axelsson, who will turn 31 tomorrow when the Three Crowns face Finland, banked in a Lidstrom slapper for a 2-1 lead in the first period, and later set up an Alfredsson strike for a 6-3 lead, employing some masterful checking along the back wall in the Czech end of the ice.

Meanwhile, Czech superstar Jaromir Jagr finished without a point and landed only one shot on net. For long stretches of the game, it was hard to tell if Jagr was in uniform. Sound familiar? Just as in the NHL, Axelsson looked across the ice at one of the biggest names in the game and helped turn him into an all-but forgotten commodity.

If ever the Czechs needed Dominik Hasek in net, it was here at Palasport in the semis. The Dominator bolted to Canada last week, his chronic groin problems rendering him useless for the remainder of tournament.

While Hasek conferred with the Senators medical staff in Ottawa, the Czech net was entrusted to Milan Hnilicka and Tomas Vokoun. Faced with the slick Swedes, the Czech tenders, in concert with their wandering defense, redefined the term ''open-door policy."

''I think the goaltenders were not our weak side," said Czech coach Alois Hadamczik. ''But our defense was weak. These were defensive faults . . . passes to corners . . . it was difficult for our goaltenders."

The Swedes, often conservative despite their abundant firepower, rolled up an impressive 25 shots in the first two periods, and connected on a half-dozen en route to forging a 6-3 lead. The skaters for the Three Crowns decided that Olympus was no place to hold back on the throttle. The shooters were shooting.

Axelsson broke a 1-1 tie with 13:37 gone in the first, slipping into the slot as Lidstrom unloaded a blast from just inside the blue line. Axelsson directed the shot by Hnilicka with a locked, angled backhander.

''I saw Axelsson there," said the sharp-eyed Lidstrom. ''It's something we practice quite a bit, especially when you've got a goaltender who moves out a little. Axelsson had his stick down, and I was aiming not at the goalie, but about 6 inches to the side, and Axelsson got it."

By the 7:54 of the second period, the Swedes had scored three more times -- strikes by Henrik Sedin, Christian Backman and Jorgen Jonsson -- for what appeared an insurmountable, and somewhat unbelievable, 5-1 lead. The Czechs, however, chipped back with a quick pair, with Ales Hemsky and Vaclav Prospal connecting within 45 seconds to peel Sweden's lead to a manageable 5-3.

But with only one minute left in the second, the hard-working Axelsson forced the puck to the rearboard in Sweden's offensive end, and in classic fashion, he hung tough amid the heavy bodychecks, regained possession, and dished the puck into the middle. A swooping Alfredsson converted with a quick pot behind Vokoun, who moved into the Czech net after Jonsson made it 5-1.

With the Swedes in command of a three-goal lead, 6-3, the Czechs were finished.

''That was the killer for them, I guess," noted Gustafsson. ''All energy more or less moved away from them after that."