The result was a stirring 2-2 tie, forged off the stick of Team USA's Brett Hull at 15:30 of the third period.

The game was played before a howling, chanting crowd that rocked and rolled in its seats with every great save, great shot and great check. And there were more of all three than you want to read listed here.

"That was a tough match," American coach Herb Brooks said. "We were on our heels for a very long time. They were able to make better plays off the rush, but we were fortunate that we got great, great goaltending."

USA 2, Russia 2 Hull makes use of Brooks magic If anyone thought Lake Placid was a fluke and that the magic had passed, Brett Hull provided convincing evidence of "Herbie Brooks magic" on Saturday night at the E-Center. ...more Goalie battle ends in deadlock Lost in the excitement of Brett Hull's dramatic game-tying goal in the final minutes of Team USA's 2-2 tie with Team Russia Friday night was an epic goaltending duel that captivated the capacity crowd at the E Center. ...more

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"Today, we played Russian style hockey and it was very gratifying," Russian coach Slava Fetisov said. "It was a great hockey game, a great game."

The tie leaves both countries with 1-0-1 records in the Olympic tournament, and neither squad was complaining about it since both teams only started play Friday.

"The last 10 minutes was the most exciting we've played in a long time," Dallas Stars center Mike Modano said, thinking back to Team USA's last tournament at the 1998 Winter Games. "It was desperate hockey and both teams went all out.

"There is a lot of respect between both teams," Modano continued. "That was just a great, great game of hockey. There were great shots and great goaltending."

The goaltending was tremendous on both sides. Russia's Nikolai Khabibulin, who allowed four goals in Russia's opening 6-4 win over Belarus Friday, played like the "Bulin Wall" Tampa Bay Lightning fans have grown accustomed to seeing. He made 33 saves on the night, yielding only Keith Tkachuk's second period power-play goal, and the tying goal from Hull.

At the other end of the ice, New York Ranger Mike Richter was making his Olympic debut after being given an extra day's rest by Brooks. That's a fun way to start the Olympics, facing the deeply talented Russian roster, but Richter was spectacular, stopping 33 of 35 Russian shots.

"They had so many quality chances," St. Louis Blues forward Scott Young said, "and Mike Richter stood on his head. Khabibulin stood up to the challenge. But Mike came up huge. They could have put us away early if it hadn't been for him."

The first period was about as even as you can get. Scoreless tie with each team getting six shots. Richter made the best save of the period at 12:53 when he came across to rob Russian defenseman Boris Mironov as he fired a one-timer from the right point. The Chicago Blackhawks defenseman went to the bench muttering over the stop.

Richter was to make plenty more in the second period, as Russia grabbed control of the game shortly after the Blues' Tkachuk scored on the power play. With the Rangers' Vladimir Malakhov off for elbowing, Tkachuk rammed home a loose puck that resulted from Brian Leetch's left-point shot at 6:19. The goal electrified the crowd and also jolted the Russians as well.

In the moments leading up to Valeri Bure's power-play goal at 17:08, Richter made brilliant saves on Buffalo's Maxim Afinogenov, Washington's Sergei Gonchar, Mironov again and Atlanta's Ilya Kovalchuk, among many others.

Russia finally found a chink in the armor after the Flyers' John LeClair was sent to the penalty box for interference at 15:45. During the early stages of the power play, Richter and the American defense were driving the Russian power play to distraction. At one point, Detroit's Sergei Fedorov left the ice shaking his head after another scoring chance was thwarted.

The Panthers' Valeri Bure rode to the rescue and knotted the game at 1 when he converted a wonderful cross-ice pass from Vladimir Malakhov.

But the Panthers' Bure rode to the rescue and knotted the game at 17:08 when he converted a wonderful cross-ice pass from Malakhov and was left all alone to Richter's right. Bure's rising shot eluded the sprawling goalie.

The Russians took the lead early in the third on another power play. With Young off for holding, the Russians converted again as Fedorov rammed a Kovalchuk rebound past Richter from in close to put Russia up, 2-1.

"Kovalchuk shot the puck a couple times," Fedorov recalled. "I knew the puck would be around and sure enough, I was able to poke it through. It beat Mike to the short side."

Brooks began to juggle his lines, trying to find the combination that would convert one of the many chances the Americans were producing in the third period. It finally happened on a broken play.

"We're guessing," Brooks admitted, "trying to find something to hag our hat on."

Hull provided the hat rack for the American coaches.

Hull, the Detroit Red Wings scorer, who opened the game on a line with Doug Weight and Tkachuk, was on the ice with Modano and Tony Amonte when he netted the big goal for Team USA. Give plenty of credit to Chicago defenseman Phil Housley, who was deep on the right side when he saw Hull open up in the slot. Housley twisted and contorted and got the puck over to Hull, who mistimed his shot and saw the puck glance off the skate of Gonchar and return to him. Hull then made no mistake with the second chance.

"Boy, you can sure see why Brett Hull has got 600 NHL goals," Brooks said. And you can see why he has scored three Olympic goals in his career, including one that put the finishing touches on another memorable American-Russian encounter Saturday night.