US men's Ice hockey throttles Latvia in Olympic opener

The U.S. opened their Olympic campaign with a commanding win over Latvia at the Winter Olympic Games Milano Cortina 2026 on Thursday, February 12, 2026.

The match was a complete blend of championship formula in a 5-1 win against Latvia in the opening round opener for each team in Group C at Santagiulia Arena.

Brock Nelson scored twice and was one of four goal-scorers for the U.S. 

The forward Jack Hughes assisted on each of Nelson’s goals, and Quinn Hughes, Mathew Tkachuk and Jack Eichel also each had two assists for the Americans.

Brady Tkachuk, Tage Thompson and Auston Matthews also cleaned the glass.

The buzzing star against Latvia, Nelson, who signed with Colorado Avalanche, has 29 NHL goals this season, the third-most among players on Team USA.

The forward said, Nelson is a perfect example of what the demand of the game is.

Mathew Tkachuk said, “He was awesome. Their line was great. [Nelson] is having a great year back in the U.S. for Colorado and he brought it here.”

Mathew added, “Talking about him, that is one of the biggest things about our team that makes it successful, the sacrifice.”

Mathew, while pointing to the team unity as a key to success, added, “Goes from being a prolific goal-scorer—obviously he pitched in with a few today—but isn’t playing power play, is playing [penalty kill], out there for some imortant draws, some matchup stuff and it’s just sacrifice, the commitment, the brotherhood that is going to make our team successful.”

The U.S. is set to play against Denmark on Saturday night, February 14, and then Germany 24 hours later to close the preliminary round.