SALT LAKE CITY — The United States restored order to the men’s Olympic ice hockey tournament by blasting Germany 5-0. The victory set up a semifinal showdown with Russia.

After seeing Belarus upset heavily favored Sweden earlier in the day, the Americans were wary of falling into the same trap.

They didn’t, dominating from the opening face off and using a four-goal burst in the second period to blow the game open.

The win sets up a classic showdown against Russia, which beat reigning gold medalists the Czech Republic 1-0.

The United States and Russia will face off 22 years to the day from the “Miracle on Ice” at the 1980 Games, a victory in which a bunch of unsung U.S. college students upset the Soviet Union. The semifinal win was a crucial step on the road to winning gold.

“We didn’t want what happened to Sweden to happen to us,” said Dallas Stars center Mike Modano.

Doing much of the damage, once again, was the duo of Brett Hull and John LeClair, the team’s top two scorers, with a goal and an assist each. Philadelphia Flyers forward Jeremy Roenick opened the scoring 13 minutes into the game during a two-man advantage.

The United States increased its lead to 2-0 just 46 seconds into the second period when Chris Chelios’ seeing-eye slapper from the blue line made its way through a maze of legs and deflected off a German player’s stick to beat goalie Marc Seliger.

Seliger held on until halfway through the frame when Chicago Blackhawk Tony Amonte, LeClair and Hull scored within three minutes of each other to chase the beleaguered German goalie from the net.

LeClair also managed to lose a tooth in the second period when Daniel Kunce’s stick accidentally hit him in the mouth.

After taking Monday’s game against Belarus off, New York Rangers netminder Mike Richter returned to post the shutout by stopping all 28 shots he faced.

“Knowing what happened to the Swedes actually helped us prepare for this game,” Richter said. “We came out focused and knew we had to get the first goal. We did and that made it a lot easier the rest of the way.”

The Americans and Russia played to a 2-2 tie in the final qualifying round last week in the first meeting between the two teams on U.S. soil since Lake Placid in 1980.

“I was a teenager then, but just going out there, I realize that every game is important,” Hull said. “The U.S.-Russia game back in 1980 was a great game and we’ve got another one coming up Friday.”

Belarus, which shocked the hockey world with its 4-3 win over Sweden, will face the winner of the last quarterfinal between Canada and Finland.