Turin, Italy ? John Grahame watched the movie “Miracle” almost 100 times during the NHL lockout.

The way the U.S. hockey team played against Latvia in the Olympic opener, Grahame and his teammates might need another miracle for history to repeat itself.

Jordan Leopold scored early in the third period, and the American team with a roster full of NHL players only managed a 3-3 tie against underdog Latvia.

When the final horn sounded, the Latvian players raised their arms in triumph while the Americans slowly gathered around goalie Grahame.

“We were not expected to win or even get the tie,” said former NHL goalie Arturs Irbe, who made 39 saves – 18 in the third period – for Latvia. “We were big-time underdogs in this game in everybody’s eyes except our own people.

“You can say that this probably means more to us than to the American team.”

Latvia, with only two current NHL players, rallied from an early two-goal deficit and proved U.S. coach Peter Laviolette had every reason to be worried about this opening matchup in Olympic Group B.

A goal is scored by the Russian squad past Slovakian goaltender Peter Budaj during their men's hockey match. The Slovakians won, 5-3, Wednesday in Turin, Italy.

Latvia had the luxury of playing mostly as a team in recent weeks, while the U.S. squad was scattered around North America. Only two American players were in Italy by Monday and the team had just one practice before hitting the ice Wednesday night.

On the flip side, their opponents – who finished ninth four years ago in Salt Lake City – had practiced together since Feb. 5.

“A lot of guys just got off the flight yesterday. There’s no excuses, but that’s the reality,” Grahame said.

The United States will play today against Kazakhstan. Latvia will face Slovakia.

Canada had less trouble with host Italy in a 7-2 victory. The gold medal favorite was locked in a surprising 1-all tie early in the second period, but Dany Heatley scored and the rout was on, with four more goals to follow in the next 131â2 minutes.

Also, Marian Gaborik scored twice late in the third period to help Slovakia upset Russia, 5-3.

Teemu Selanne and Olli Jokinen each had two goals and an assist in Finland’s 5-0 victory over Switzerland, and Daniel Tjarnqvist scored twice to help Sweden beat Kazakhstan.

Dominik Hasek went down because of an injured hamstring only a few minutes into the Czech Republic’s Olympic opener. Tomas Vokoun replaced him, and the Czechs held off Germany, 4-1.