TURIN, Italy, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Arturs Irbe made 39 saves Wednesday night to help Latvia preserve a shocking 3-3 tie with the United States in their Olympic hockey opener.
Canada and the Czech Republic, meanwhile, posted first-day wins and Slovakia won a thriller against Russia.
Latvia scored twice in a 40-second span of the second period to take a 3-2 lead and although Jordan Leopold tied it for the Americans early in the third, they could not get another one past Irbe.
Although the tie was unexpected, the Americans are a good bet to reach the quarterfinals. The top four in each six-team group will get to the quarters.
Elsewhere on the first day of the tournament, it was Canada 7, Italy 2; Sweden 7, Kazakhstan 2; Finland 5, Switzerland 0; and Slovakia 5, Russia 3.
The Czechs fought off Germany when Jaromir Jagr scored with 2:13 remaining for a 3-1 lead. Czech goaltender Dominik Hasek had to leave the game with an apparent groin injury.
Jaromir Jagr scored with 2:13 to play to give Slovakia a 4-3 lead over Russia and Slovakia added an empty netter.
