Team USA jumped out to a early 2-0 lead, but Latvia countered with three unanswered goals.

Tie doesn't thrill
Americans in Olympic debut
By Phil Coffey | NHL.com
Feb. 15, 2006

TORINO, Italy -- Is the glass half-empty or half-full?

That's the quandary plaguing Team USA after Wednesday's 3-3 tie with Latvia that opened the 2006 Olympic hockey tournament for both clubs.

One the one hand, Team USA was heavily favored coming into the game, and the Americans built a 2-0 first-period lead, only to see the plucky Latvians rebound for a 3-2 lead.

On the other hand, the Americans can look at coming back to salvaging the tie, and also consider they had the better of the scoring chances. And the Americans, like the rest of the teams that traveled from North America, the first game was a challenge in gaining cohesion and fighting jetlag and lack of practice time. Plus, they were definitely the road team in this contest as thousands of spirited Latvian fans made the atmosphere very loud and festive throughout.

"You could tell from the fans that they have great support," New Jersey Devils winger Brian Gionta said. "They always do in international events."

For Latvia, the tie was like a win as the team and its fans celebrated when the final buzzer sounded.

"Look at the crowds," Irbe said. "Look at the sea of burgundy and white. It is very special for us."

The former Carolina Hurricane goalie said he took inspiration from his teammates.

"Considering they have never faced a team of this quality in their lives and seeing them play well made me lift my own game."

"It wasn't quite what we wanted, but they played great," American defenseman John-Michael Liles said. "They got a solid game from Irbe. I think overall we played decent."

"We made a couple assignment errors," Dallas Stars winger Bill Guerin said. "We turned the puck over a couple times. But I thought we played a good transition game and we came together a little bit."

Guerin rejected fatigue as an excuse for the tie, but it nevertheless played a factor as a good portion of Team USA arrived in Torino a day late because of bad weather on the Eastern Seaboard of the United States.

"Hey, everybody is in the same boat," Guerin shrugged. "Those are the things you have to overcome. This should be fun. We have to look at this as being exciting. It doesn't matter how we got here, we're here."

The United States got off to the fast start it was seeking, spending considerable time in the Latvian end to open the game, forcing Irbe to make some solid saves. But the U.S. finally cracked through at 9:44 when Gionta took a pass from Liles and fired a wicked wrist shot from the high slot for a power-play goal.

Craig Conroy of the Los Angeles Kings made it a 2-0 game at 10:38, ripping a shot from the right side that beat Irbe under his right arm.

With the two-goal cushion, Team USA appeared well on its way, but as the late Herb Brooks often said, the two-goal lead is the hardest one to hold.

And the Americans' hold began to slip at 13:15 when Alexanders Nizivijs took advantage of a big hit by defenseman Arvids Rekis on Team USA defenseman Mathieu Schneider. Latvia gained control of the puck and defenseman Sandis Ozolinsh put a shot on net that was stopped by goalie John Grahame, but the rebound went right to Nizivijs, who planted the rebound.

The American lead was erased in a 40-second span in the second period.

"It was a nice shot on the third goal, but in a tournament like this, you have to make that save." - John Grahame analyzes his performance

A Brian Rolston hooking penalty at 14:16 proved costly when Atvars Tribuncovs beat Grahame with a shot from the just inside the blue line off another assist from Ozolinsh at 15:04.

And before the boisterous Latvians could settle back in their seats, they were celebrating again as Herberts Vasiljevs gave Latvia a 3-2 edge at 15:44. His rising shot from the left wing beat Grahame to the glove side.

For Grahame, the game marked his Olympic debut and his take on the contest was analytical afterwards.

"The first goal was on a rebound," Grahame said. "It was a nice shot on the third goal, but in a tournament like this, you have to make that save. I just have to bear down a little more.

"I'm still positive," he said. "You can't stay negative, especially in a tournament like this."

With the Latvian fans cheering loudly, Team USA went about its business of getting the games tied and came close on several occasions. One that stands out saw Gionta alone in front, only to see Latvian defenseman Rekis make a brilliant block of a pass that would have resulted in a sure goal.

Irbe would love to have the American's tying goal by defenseman Jordan Leopold back.

After a Craig Conroy faceoff win to Irbe's right, the puck came back to defenseman Bret Hedican and he passed across to Leopold, who put a shot on goal that Irbe got with his stick. But he failed to control the rebound, which flipped over his stick, dropped behind him and bounced into the net for the equalizer at 2:01 of the third.

"We had the chances in the third," Conroy said. "We just weren't able to score."

"It's frustrating," American center Mike Modano said. "We have to get better as we go here. You want to get off to a great start and get your confidence going. It's good to salvage something, but it's not where we wanted to start. Irbe played pretty well, they played a mistake-free game and took advantage of our mistakes."

But Guerin said those mistakes are correctible.

"It's just a few Xs and Os things," Guerin said. "We're going to have to get better as the tournament progresses."

And that starts Thursday with a game against Kazakhstan, that suddenly is of much greater importance that many originally thought.

"We will get our rest," predicted American forward Chris Drury. "We will refuel, refocus. It's a late game again tomorrow, so we have plenty of time."