3:02 p.m. (EST): Jeremy Roenick just called this “the biggest game in hockey history.” That should give Mike Eruzione plenty of fodder for his next 1,500 celebrity golf tournaments and grammar school appearances.

3:04: Has anyone made one shtick last longer than Don Cherry? He’s the Canadian Dick Vitale.

3:07: The underrated story of the Olympics? Have to go with Al Michaels and his (at least) 20-pound weight gain since the end of the football season. Marty Blake has moved him from a lottery pick to the middle of the second round.

3:10: Am I missing something? Why is everyone making this seem like it’s impossible for the Americans to win this game? I mean, it has been a whole week since they last beat Canada, but they have a chance, no?

3:12: Again, enough with 1980. This is totally different, NBC. First of all, the game is, you know, actually being shown live.

3:14: Sensing a mild sexual chemistry between Mike Milbury and Roenick. I know I’m not alone.

3:17: I’m on record with a 4-2 USA win today. Two goals for Patrick Kane.

3:20: This is exactly what the finals of the World Baseball Classic feels like, right? And here we go.

3:22: It says a lot about me that with all the terrible stuff he’s gone through in his life I still find myself rooting for Phil Kessel to fail miserably. Got to put that aside for another three hours.

3:28: Seven minutes into the game and both teams are flying. Add in no commercials and this is just tremendous. NBC just skipped what was a clear media timeout to show some replays.

3:30: How many coaches would have to turn down the Team USA job before they offered it to Emilio Estevez? At least a thousand, right?

3:32: First real good look for either team. Rick Nash stopped by Ryan Miller.

3:34: And the USA gets a real chance, but Dustin Brown is stuffed by Roberto Luongo. Luongo, by the way, is a dead ringer for the kicker on the old O.J. Simpson HBO show “1st and Ten.”

3:37: Just did a “Delta Burke naked on 1st and Ten” Google search. No luck.

3:39: Jonathan Toews on the rebound, 1-0 Canada. The crowd is nuts. Reminds me of when a woman would take off her top in Section 322 of Foxboro Stadium.

3:42: Uh-oh. Bobby Ryan trips Dany Heatly. Power-play time. If Canada goes up 2-zip it might get ugly. And yes, it only took me 22 minutes to look for the best spot to jump off the bandwagon.

3:44: Good job by Team USA to kill the penalty.

3:47: Is it me, or do hockey announcers make more of guys being the captain of their teams than you hear in other sports? In this game, does it really matter that Eric Staal is the captain of the Carolina Hurricanes?

3:50: I like Mike Emrick. Totally in control in what is easily the toughest sport to call play-by-play for. Plus he has the nickname I’ve always wanted—Doc. I really do think I could be a Doc. If only I were 20 percent more pensive I think I would have had it.

3:52: End of the first. Not the end of the world for Team USA. Could have been worse than 1-0 for sure.

3:55: Just watching the Direct TV commercial. It’s been about six months now and I think we can all agree that “The Hangover” is a little overrated, right?

4:02: Over/under on number of “Parenthood” episodes that  actually air? How about 32.5. I’d go with the under.

4:08: Second period is underway.

4:09: Jarome Iginla backhand is stopped by Miller. Miller has been tremendous again. Could be 3-0 if not for him.

4:12: Another power-play for Team Canada. Feels like they have dominated this game.

4:14: And Team USA fights it off again. And now they’ll get a chance with an extra man as Eric Staal goes to the box. If you knew nothing about hockey I suppose that last sentence could be interpreted a number of ways.

4:17: Corey Perry puts Canada up 2-0. Why am I smelling a 5-1 final?

4:19: How great would it be if “Gossip Girl” had limited commercial interruptions? It would make Ed and Serena seem even more real.

4:22: Another empty power-play for the USA.

4:27: USA! USA! 2-1 and that would be silence in Vancouver. Luongo looked really shaky there.

4:28: Kane is the breakout star of the Olympics for Team USA. I knew he was good before, but didn’t realize he was this good.

4:30: Amazing. Canada was cruising, looked like an easy win. One goal by the U.S. and the feel of the game has totally changed. Canada on its heels right now.

4:33: Just showed Neil Young in the stands. Still looking for my favorite Canadian recording artist, Mr. Corey Hart. No luck. The guy is a total recluse. He’s the J.D. Salinger of 1980s two-hit wonders. But in his honor, I present his finest work…

“Just a little more time is all we're asking for

Cause just a little more time could open closing doors

Just a little uncertainty can bring you down

And nobody wants to know you now

And nobody wants to show you how

So if you're lost and on your own

You can never surrender

And if your path won't lead you home

You can never surrender

And when the night is cold and dark

You can see, you can see light

Cause no one can take away your right

To fight and never surrender

With a little perseverance you can get things down

Without the blind adherence that has conquered some

And nobody wants to know you now

And nobody wants to show you how

So if you're lost and on your own

You can never surrender

And if your path won't lead you home

You can never surrender

And when the night is cold and dark

You can see, you can see light

Cause no one can take away your right

To fight and never surrender, to never surrender”

Hard to believe that he wrote that in only 16 minutes, isn’t it?

4:37: A pair of great saves by Miller. Just under two minutes left in the second period. If the U.S. can enter the third down 2-1 they’ll have to feel pretty good.

4:39: And Staal misses on a clean breakaway. Another bullet dodged.

4:40: Done with the second period. You know how I smelled a 5-1 final an hour or so ago? Not so much now. Third period could be epic. Speaking of epics, did you know that this game is being brought to you in part by “Clash of the Titans?”

4:46: Does anyone know where I can find out about the ancestry of Sarah Jessica Parker? Wait, what? AND it’s executive produced by Lisa Kudrow?

4:50: This game gets you all kinds of fired up for the rest of the NHL season, doesn’t it? Who else is watching Edmonton/Nashville on Tuesday night?

4:56: And we start the third period.

4:58: To be fair, this would be a different game if Sidney Crosby were playing.

5:00: Canada is all over the ice early in the third. Three real scoring chances in the first four minutes. USA looks sluggish, (excluding Miller, who continues to carry the team) which is hard to believe at this point.

5:04: Stupid Question, Part 1: If a team played the entire 60 minutes without a goalie what would be the final score? With the 6-on-5 edge they’d probably score seven or eight goals, no? So I’d go with a 26-8 loss.

5:06: USA seems to have its legs back with 12 minutes left.

5:08: I’m going to put Doc Emerick in the Marv Albert class now. Any objections?

5:10: Miller with another incredible save. If they lose this will be one of the great forgotten performances, right next to Wes Welker in the Super Bowl vs. the Giants and Andre the Giant in Wrestlemania III.

5:12: Zach Parise with the USA’s best third-period look. Can’t convert an open chance in front. Under eight minutes now.

5:15: Six minutes left and this is one quiet crowd.

5:17: Brian Rafalski in what will be his last Olympic game has a great look, but Luongo (who has played really well, to be fair) makes the stop.

5:19: Nice to see a huge sporting event actually meeting the hype. That’s twice in two weeks, if you count the "Horse" game at the NBA All-Star Weekend.

5:20: Pretty sweet that NBC hasn’t gone to commercials once during this game.

5:21: Under four minutes. Time for someone to make a play. I still think it’ll be Parise or Kane. 

5:22: Crosby chokes on a breakaway. No more “next Gretzky” talk, please.

5:23: Two minutes left. Win or lose, Ryan Miller should be voted MVP of the tournament.

5:24: USA goes empty net.

5:25: Time out for USA. Rasheed Wallace barges in and suggests a play that ends up with him A) taking a three-pointer or B) posting up and badly missing a fallaway. Either option also includes Sheed rasing his hands at the ref for no reason.

5:26: One minute left (maybe) in an absolute instant classic.

5:28: OHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

5:29: Has any game ever deserved overtime more than this one? Unreal.

5:35: Where is Al Michaels? Bill Patrick steps in with Milbury and Roenick...

5:38: Just told by my moles that Michaels had a ticket for the 3:10 showing of “Dear John” and wasn’t going to miss it under any circumstances.

5:44: Here we go. Four-on-Four.

5:46: Think these guys might be a little flat when they get back to NHL regular-season play this week?

5:47: I’m in the absolute minority here, but I don’t like the four-on-four. A little too gimmicky for my blood. The whole game is played with one set of rules, but when it matters most you change the most important element?

5:50: Iginla with the first good looks of overtime, but Miller (who has already moved past Jim Craig as the best US Olympic goalie ever) does it again.

5:52: This is almost as exciting as the third act of “Mystery, Alaska.”

5:53: And Sidney Crosby makes me look like an absolute moron. Complete bedlam in Vancouver.

5:58: This game is exactly why the NHL takes a couple of weeks off for the Olympics. I’m not going to jump on the “This game will really help the NHL in ratings” train but it can only help. Hockey had a rare chance at center stage today and they pulled it off.

6:00: Ryan Miller does win MVP. Had to be.

6:02: Nothing else? Anyone ready for more Mike Cameron talk?