Team USA skated to a 5-1 victory over Latvia in the Group C preliminary round opening tilt of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 at Santagiulia Arena on Thursday.
While things got a bit dicey for Team USA in their opening contest of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 at Santagiulia Arena on Thursday, their overwhelming skill ultimately prevailed.
In the Olympic debut of Detroit Red Wings team captain Dylan Larkin, Team USA defeated Latvia by a 5-1 final score, opening their Group C preliminary round matchup with a bang.
Larkin skated in 13:52 of ice time while centering the third line, flanked by Tage Thompson (Buffalo Sabres) and fellow former Michigan Wolverine Kyle Connor (Winnipeg Jets). While he didn't register any points, he fired one shot on goal and was whistled for a minor penalty.
Team USA struck first thanks to Ottawa Senators team captain Brady Tkachuk, who buried a feed from his brother Matthew Tkachuk of the Florida Panthers past goaltender Elvis Merslikins (Columbus Blue Jackets) for the opening tally.
While it appeared former Michigan Wolverines defenseman Quinn Hughes (Minnesota Wild) extended the lead to 2-0, his would-be goal was waived off after Brock Nelson (Colorado Avalanche) was ruled offside.
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Not long after Team Latvia knotted the score at 1-1 thanks to Renars Krastenbergs, Team USA had another goal waived off, this time because of goaltender interference.
However, their skill would soon take over and power them to a blowout victory. Nelson would tally twice, including capitalizing on a beautiful multi-passing play in the second period:
Thompson and Auston Matthews (Toronto Maple Leafs) also added tallies for Team USA.
Goaltender and Metro-Detroit native Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg Jets) stopped 17 of the 18 shots he faced.
Meanwhile, Merzlikins allowed four goals on 32 shots before being pulled in favor of backup Arturs Silovs (Pittsburgh Penguins).
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