The US men’s hockey team, stacked with NHL talent, embarked on their Olympic journey with a commanding victory, but the initial matchup against the underdog Latvian team in Milan on Thursday was anything but straightforward.
In a tense first period, the Americans saw not one, but two goals disallowed, allowing Latvia to secure an equalizer before the first break. However, the US team found their rhythm in the second period and ultimately secured a decisive 5-1 win in Group C.
The game began with Quinn Hughes of the Minnesota Wild scoring, only to have his goal nullified after a Latvian challenge revealed an offside violation. Later, Brock Nelson of the Colorado Avalanche also had a goal overturned when replays showed New York Rangers veteran JT Miller interfering with Latvian goalie Elvis Merzlikins.
Brady Tkachuk, playing alongside his brother Matthew, netted the opening goal of the match. Brock Nelson made up for his earlier disallowed goal by scoring twice, while Tage Thompson capitalized on a power play, and Auston Matthews added another goal with an even-strength effort.
The US team dominated the ice with 38 shots to Latvia’s 18, leaving starter Connor Hellebuyck with just 17 saves to make, showcasing a solid start to their Olympic campaign.
The US outshot Latvia 38-18 and needed starter Connor Hellebuyck to only make 17 saves.
US coach Mike Sullivan expresses his disapproval with officials during the Olympic opener
Brady Tkachuk is taken down in front of the Latvia net in what proved to be a physical game
Brock Nelson hugs Jack Hughes after scoring the tie-breaking goal against Latvia
Merzlikins was under siege at the other end, after Nelson’s second goal sat in the crease with his head bowed in his lap. An odd-man rush became a version of Harlem Globetrotters on ice with pass after pass: Jack Hughes to brother Quinn to Matthew Tkachuk, back to Jack and then to Nelson to tap into a half-open net with 11.1 seconds left in the second period.
Tkachuk scored the first US goal of the tournament less than six minutes in, and Thompson roofed a nifty backhander on the power play, making coach Mike Sullivan look smart for putting the 6-foot-6 winger on the loaded top unit. Four goals on 32 shots was enough to chase Merzlikins, who was pulled to start the third for Arturs Silovs.
Matthews, the captain, welcomed Silovs to the Olympics with a power-play goal, assisted on by Jack Eichel and Quinn Hughes. Each of them had two assists, along with Matthew Tkachuk and Jack Hughes.
The US next plays Denmark on Saturday night before wrapping up the preliminary round 24 hours later against Germany.
Matthews (left) and Brock Faber (right) of Team USA watch Latvian players fall to the ice
Macklin Celebrini scored Canada’s first goal in the return of the NHL to the Olympics and Jordan Binnington stopped all 26 shots he faced in a 5-0 defeat of Czechia that showed the tournament favorite is already a well-oiled machine.
‘Our intentions were really good with the way we played,’ captain Sidney Crosby said. ‘I thought we were physical. We were moving our feet. The execution, sometimes that comes with time. But even other times we did some good things and executed well. Just a matter of building off of that.’
Celebrini, his country’s youngest player at 19, deflected a shot by Cale Makar past Lukas Dostal with 5.7 seconds left in the first, putting an exclamation point on a terrific, back-and-forth period. After Mitch Marner’s saucer pass to Mark Stone for his goal and Bo Horvat’s on a breakaway later in the second, Czechia never stood a chance.
‘When you’re playing in the Olympics for the first time, it never gets old, and everybody’s got their jitters,’ coach Jon Cooper said. ‘You know what I liked? I thought we got better as that game went on.’
The handful of times Binnington got tested, he was there to make the save. Before Celebrini scored, Binnington kept it 0-0 by making a left-pad stop on Michal Kempny and reaching out to smother David Kampf’s rebound attempt.
Phenom Macklin Celebrini scored Canada’s first goal in the return of the NHL to the Olympics
At the other end of the ice, Dostal played well but was helpless to slow down much of the onslaught. There was nothing he could do on the Crosby-to-Connor McDavid-to-Nathan MacKinnon tic-tac-toe power-play goal in the third period.
‘Two of the best players ever to play passing it to me is cool,’ MacKinnon said. ‘I didn’t do much for that one. Just blessed to be on the back side. Anyone would have put that in.’
The same trio combined for almost the same goal in opening game of the 4 Nations Face-Off a year ago. Canada won that Olympic appetizer by beating the US in overtime.
McDavid finished with three assists, including one on Nick Suzuki’s goal that made it 5-0.
Switzerland’s #28 Timo Meier (C) shoots and scores his team third goal during the men’s preliminary round Group A Ice Hockey match between Switzerland and France
Timo Meier of the New Jersey Devils scored twice in the third period, 39-year-old national team goaltender Leonardo Genoni stopped all 27 shots he faced and Switzerland shut out France 4-0.
Damien Riat scored 55 seconds in, J.J. Moser of the Tampa Bay Lightning made it a two-goal lead three minutes in and there wasn’t much to worry about the rest of the way, outshooting Switzerland 43-27.
‘It helps you a lot if you score two in the first, whatever it was, five minutes,’ Moser said. ‘It just gives you a little bit more comfort, more confidence also for the rest of the game.’
The goals by Meier put the game out of reach after he and his teammates tilted the ice toward Keller. Meier called it ‘a mature performance there how we put the game away.’
