I'm a little late in the discussion here but here was my take on the US game and the Canadian team in general:
Brodeur fucked up twice and cost Canada 2 goals. Plain and simple. He should have stayed in his net and let his defencemen play the puck because at both times they had the position to do so. On the "batting" play, Marty hit it almost right up the middle - stupid. On the diving poke check he actually knocked Pronger's stick from getting the puck and the American ended up with it - stupid.
Goal #1 was a lucky deflection, however the defence did a HORRIBLE job of clearing the front of the net all game. I'm sorry but as good as Pronger (I think he's a prick and a cheapshot) and Neidermeyer WERE they look too old and slow to be out there. They got walked on. The younger guys have been playing well BUT.......
WTF was Weber doing on the goal that went through Brodeur's 5 hole? He was standing IN FRONT of the American IN FRONT of Brodeur effectively giving his own goalie a double screen while 2 American attackers stood right on the doorstep unchecked. Had Brodeur made that save 1 of the 2 Yanks would have gotten the rebound. Very poor defensive play, hell I would have been benched a couple shifts for that just in Junior B back in the day.
GET THAT FUCKER OUT OF YOUR TENDER'S FACE!
In the last 2 minutes Team Canada showed it's dominance, but they met a red hot goaltender and didn't get the lucky bounces. 45-22 shots against a team like the US? That's pretty amazing. I think the team is finally starting to mesh and play as a team rather then a group of stellar individuals. But their D really needs to pick it up and in a big way, cause Ovechkin and Malkin will RUIN THEM if they don't.
As for the goaltending debate, Lu's a great goalie but I'm worried if he starts against Russia. When he goes down, he rarely gets up again. He tends to stay flopped when there's pressure around the net and that makes him easy to score on in scrambles. He's also got very little 'big game' experience, hell he's only been in what 5 playoff games or something? 3rd stringer Fleury has something like 20 and a Stanley Cup ring - big difference. Brodeur's a legend, too bad he made some big mistakes against the US because he obviously has what it takes to take Canada all the way but I don't think he'll get that chance now. No matter, he's done it before and will be a damn good backup should anyone get injured. His experience will mean a lot on the bench to everyone in all positions who haven't been their before (all but 7 players).
Finally - WTF Perry, good hustle! He took position, had all kinds of time, and rather than play the puck safely he just wagged his stick in the air. What was he trying to fake Kesler out? Horrifically played at the end, bet he feels like a total retard. But Canada shouldn't have been in that position in the first place.