U.S. Hockey Team Can't Even Score A Goal Against Russians At Winter Olympics

No miracles. Just meh.

The United States men’s hockey team couldn’t get by Russia’s 6-foot-7 goalie Vasily Koshechkin in a 4-0 loss on Saturday at the Winter Olympics .

The Americans (1-2) now must play an elimination game on Tuesday to make the quarterfinals. The Russians (2-1), technically the Olympic Athletes From Russia, have earned an automatic bye.

This year’s competition does not include current NHL players   after they had appeared in five previous Olympics but one former league star figured largely in the scoring for Russia. Ilya Kovalchuk, who had 417 career goals  in the NHL, made two goals after Nikolai Prokhorkin notched the first two for their team. (Watch the scoring highlights here .)

Koshechkin stopped 29 shots to help the Russians turn this game of rivals into a rout.

“I think it was a learning experience for us, ” U.S. Coach Tony Granato told NBC afterward.

In the years since the Americans triumphed in the “Miracle on Ice” at the 1980 Games, the Russians have built a record of 4-1-1 in their Olympic series, Reuters noted.