The United States’ men’s hockey team opened up their tournament on Friday afternoon, handily beating Team Latvia 5-1 to kick things off at the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
The States opened things up in the second period, with two goals from Brock Nelson, who is having a career year with the Colorado Avalanche and on pace for 40 goals in 2025-26. The first one was a power play marker, assisted by Jack Hughes and Vincent Trocheck, and the second was at even-strength, also assisted by Hughes and Matthew Tkachuk. Sandwiched in between those two goals was another power play marker from Tage Thompson, assisted by Jack Eichel and Quinn Hughes.
In the third period, Matthews scored under three minutes into the frame on the power play with assists coming from Eichel and Hughes. It was his first goal of the tournament and effectively put the cap on any potential comeback from Team Latvia. Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck got the start in the team’s first game and stopped 17 of 18 shots, with a less pretty but admirable effort coming from Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Arturs Silovs for Latvia, with 31 saves on 36 shots.
Matthews and the States will be back in action on Saturday when they face Denmark, while Canada will square off against Team Switzerland on Friday afternoon. William Nylander, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Team Sweden will duke it out against Team Finland early Friday morning.