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Media reported that the USSR team wasn’t the real deal and that they were like some second string team we beat.

I doubt that national pride would not allow that, and they were undefeated til then, and took the silver medal by beating Sweden 9–2. In exhibitions that year, Soviet club teams went 5–3–1 against National Hockey League (NHL) teams, and a year earlier, the Soviet national team had routed the NHL All-Stars 6–0 to win the Challenge Cup. The Soviet team did not lose a World Championship game until 1985 and did not lose to the United States again until 1991.

From wikipedia:The Soviets were led by legendary players in world ice hockey, such as Boris Mikhailov (a top line right winger and team captain), Vladislav Tretiak (the consensus best goaltender in the world at the time [though coach Tikhonov replaced Tretiak with backup goaltender Vladimir Myshkin after the 1st period]), the speedy and skilled Valeri Kharlamov, and talented, dynamic players such as defenseman Viacheslav Fetisov and forwards Vladimir Krutov and Sergei Makarov. From that team, Tretiak, Kharlamov, Makarov, and Fetisov would eventually be enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Many of the Soviet players had gained attention in the Summit Series eight years before and, in contrast to the American players, were de facto professionals with long histories of international play,[5] employed by industrial firms or military organizations for the sole purpose of playing hockey on their organization's team. Western nations protested the Soviet Union's use of full-time athletes, as they were forced to use amateur (mainly college) players due to the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) amateur-only policy. The situation even led to Canadian withdrawal from the 1972 and 1976 Olympics, but the IOC did not change the rules until the late 1980s.[6][7][8]

Third period Vladimir Krutov was sent to the penalty box at the 6:47 mark of the third period for high-sticking. The Americans, who had managed only two shots on Myshkin in 27 minutes, had a power play and a rare offensive opportunity. Myshkin stopped a Mike Ramsey shot, then U.S. team captain Mike Eruzione fired a shot wide. Late in the power play, Dave Silk was advancing into the Soviet zone when Valeri Vasiliev knocked him to the ice. The puck slid to Mark Johnson.[32] Johnson fired off a shot that went under Myshkin and into the net at the 8:39 mark, as the power play was ending, tying the game at 3.[33] Only a couple of shifts later, Mark Pavelich passed to Eruzione, who was left undefended in the high slot. Eruzione, who had just come onto the ice, fired a shot past Myshkin, who was screened by Vasili Pervukhin.[34] This goal gave Team USA a 4–3 lead, its first of the game, with exactly 10 minutes remaining to play.

Myshkin allowed no goals in the second period. The Soviets dominated play in the second period, outshooting the Americans 12–2, but scored only once, on a power play goal by Aleksandr Maltsev 2:18 into play...

The Soviets, trailing for the first time in the game, attacked ferociously. Moments after Eruzione's goal, Maltsev fired a shot which ricocheted off the right goal post.[35] As the minutes wound down, Brooks kept repeating to his players, "Play your game. Play your game."[36] Instead of going into a defensive crouch, the United States continued to play offense, even getting off a few more shots on goal.[37] The Soviets began to shoot wildly, and Sergei Starikov admitted that "we were panicking." As the clock ticked down below a minute, the Soviets got the puck back into the American zone, and Mikhailov passed to Vladimir Petrov, who shot wide.[38] The Soviets never pulled Myshkin for an extra attacker, much to the Americans' disbelief; Starikov later explained that "We never did six-on-five," not even in practice, because "Tikhonov just didn't believe in it."[39] Craig kicked away a Petrov slap shot with 33 seconds left. Kharlamov fired the puck back in as the clock ticked below 20 seconds. A wild scramble for the puck ensued, ending when Johnson found it and passed it to Ken Morrow.[39] As the U.S. team tried to clear the zone (move the puck over the blue line, which they did with seven seconds remaining), the crowd began to count down the seconds left.

Also critical is the extraordinary USA coach (who today would not fit with the demasculinity program):

part of Brooks' selection process was a 300-question psychological test that would give him insight on how every player would react under stress; anyone who refused to take the test would automatically fail. Brooks had to select from 68 players who started the tryout.[11]

Brooks had selected carefully and knew the limits of every player. As forward John Harrington said, "He knew exactly where to quit. He'd push you right to the limit where you were ready to say, 'I've had it, I'm throwing it in'—and then he'd back off."

Brooks instilled a European style of play in his team, emphasizing wide-open play with sufficient body contact. He believed it would be the only way for the Americans to compete with the Soviets.[16] From the start of the exhibition matches, he conducted the team through skating wind sprints consisting of end line to blue line and back, then end line to red line and back, then end line to far blue line and back, and finally end line all the way down and back. Some of the players took to calling these "Herbies."[11] On September 17, 1979, the team played to a 3-3 tie in Norway.[17] An angry Brooks had them skate Herbies after the game, and after a while, arena custodians turned the lights off and the Herbies continued in the dark. Near the end of the exhibition season, Brooks, because of subpar play, threatened to cut Eruzione (the captain) from the team and replace Craig with Steve Janaszak as the starting goaltender, although he had supported them throughout.[11]...

In Olympic group play, the Americans surprised many observers with their physical, cohesive play...In the other group, the Soviets stormed through their opposition undefeated, often by grossly lopsided scores. They defeated Japan 16–0, the Netherlands 17–4, Poland 8–1, Finland 4–2, and Canada 6–4 to easily qualify for the next round, although both the Finns and the Canadians gave the Soviets tough games for two periods.

Of the 20 players on Team USA, 13 eventually played in the NHL.[48] Five of them went on to play over 500 NHL games, and three would play over 1,000 NHL games.

But for nostalgia, look at the ads in this old 1990 writer up :