Italian Goalie, by Way of Canada, Finland ...

So many games, over so many years. Sometimes, you’re playing in the Olympics, or a playoff game, or an All-Star game. Sometimes, it’s just another game.

So, when Jason Muzzatti skated into goal for the New York Rangers on a December evening eight years ago, there was no reason to savor the moment. In the course of the NHL regular season, it was just another game.

The opposing team was the New Jersey Devils. The opposing goaltender was Martin Brodeur. The Devils won, 4-3, but on that night Muzzatti had no idea he would never start another game in the NHL.

Brodeur has done pretty well for himself in the NHL, an eight-time All-Star and three-time Stanley Cup champion. Muzzatti scrambled for a job wherever he could -- in the U.S., Canada, Finland, Germany and Italy -- and emerged as the top goaltender in Italy. Their paths crossed again on Wednesday, the opening day of the Olympic men’s hockey tournament. The host Italians played the top-seeded Canadians -- and Muzzatti faced Brodeur once more.

“It was a surreal moment,” Muzzatti said.

Canada won, 7-2, but there was a miracle on ice. It lasted 72 seconds, from the time Italy tied the score, 1-1, until the Canadians took the lead for good.

For those 72 seconds, for the chants of “Italia! Italia!” echoing loudly through the arena and the green, white and red flags waving in the crowd, Muzzatti had a memory for life.

“I looked up in the stands and saw people going crazy,” he said. “I thought, this is a great moment. There was a small part of me wondering if this was as good as it was going to get.

“It was.”

There is no shame in losing to the Canadian boys. After all, Muzzatti is one of them, born in Toronto 36 years ago.

He played parts of five seasons in the NHL, for the Rangers, Calgary Flames, Hartford Whalers and San Jose Sharks, with regular detours to the minor leagues. In 1998, after open-heart surgery to repair an aortic valve, he couldn’t find a job. He didn’t quit on the NHL, but the NHL didn’t want him.

“I moved my butt overseas,” he said. “I have no regrets. It’s been a tremendous experience. I’ve been all over the world.”

He played two years in Germany, one in Finland, the last five in Italy. In a country in which soccer rules the sporting world and Formula One racing ranks a close second, Muzzatti opted for a European analogy in explaining the difference in speed between the NHL and the Italian pro league.

“It’s F-1 and bumper cars,” he said.

The average Canadian might not put it that way, but Muzzatti isn’t a Canadian tourist trading on his heritage for a spot in the Olympics. His parents are Italian, yes, but he moved here five years ago. He earned Italian citizenship, learned to speak the language and did his best to get his relatives excited about Olympic hockey.

“They didn’t even know what hockey was,” he said. “Soccer is in their blood.”

They’ll learn, just by getting to know the two Muzzatti boys. The 5-year-old is named Dryden, after Montreal Canadiens’ Hall of Fame goaltender Ken. The 2-year-old is named Sutter, after the family that produced six NHL players.

For the Olympics, Muzzatti decorated his mask with pictures of his sons, Pope John Paul II and the Virgin Mary.

“They’re all related to Italy,” Muzzatti said, “and they’re important to me.”

He loves his homeland, although he slips in the occasional “we” in reference to Canada, not Italy.

“They’re laid back here. They’re not in a rush,” Muzzatti said. “They take time for each other, and for family.

“That’s a positive thing we could learn from the Italians.”

As for Brodeur, it turns out Muzzatti did have a memory to savor. In 1996, with Brodeur in the opposing net, he recorded his lone NHL shutout, 1-0, for the Whalers.

“I was hoping for another one of those miracles,” Muzzatti said, “but that was a little better team.”