The U.S. defeated Latvia on Thursday in the preliminary round of the 2026 Olympic Hockey Tournament.
Latvia held on for a little while, but in the end, the United States absolutely pummeled Latvia in the second period to build a 4-1 lead after two periods, which basically sealed the game. The game would end 5-1.
After making 28 saves on 32 American shots, Latvia decided that Elvis Merzļikins had had enough and put in Artūrs Šilovs. It didn't get any better.
Elvis Merzļikins, despite getting the benefit of two goals being called back, played really well. He made some huge stops, but the defense in front of him was just not up to the task of stopping this talented American roster. The score could've been much worse had Elvis not played so well. To go along with the overturned goals, the U.S. also hit two posts, which kept the score close at that point.
The final numbers for Elvis were 28 saves on 32 shots for a .875 SV%.
Zach Werenski got plenty of TV in this game, with all of the on-air personalities gushing over the year that Werenski has had so far this year. It seemed like he was all over the place in this game, especially early. Kenny Albert, Eddie Olczyk, and Brian Boucher had plenty of good things to say about the Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman.
Zach ended with a stat line of 0-1-1 with 3 shots and a plus-1 rating. He also finished with over 17 minutes of ice time.
Zach Werenski had an elite play to set up the goal by Brady Tkachuk. After gathering the puck in the neutral zone, he turned the puck back up ice for a rush instead of simply passing back into the defensive zone. That's a very smart play by the Norris candidate. It almost looked as though Werenski baited the Latvians into a line change and then turned it up ice.
Next up for Werenski - United States vs. Denmark - 3:10 p.m. ET - USA Network
Next up for Merzlikins - Latvia vs. Germany - 6:10 a.m. ET - CNBC
Stay with THN - Columbus for all of the Zach Werenski and Elvis Merzļikins Olympic coverage.
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