Forward Brock Nelson scored twice as the U.S. -- the consensus favourite in Group C – defeated Latvia 5-1 to kick off its 2026 Olympic campaign on Thursday. The talented Americans took over the game with three unanswered second-period goals.

"Just an unbelievable experience, and I tried to soak it all in," said Nelson of his Olympic debut. "I thought our line [with Jack Hughes and JT Miller] was good, and made a lot of great plays, good chances, good support. It was a good team win overall. "

Captain Auston Matthews, Brady Tkachuk, and Tage Thompson added singles for the Americans. Jack Hughes, Quinn Hughes, Jack Eichel, and Matthew Tkachuk had two assists apiece. ​Final shots favoured the U.S. 38-18.

Coach Mike Sullivan’s troops bounced back from some early adversity, having two apparent first-period goals overturned on video review.

The U.S. is shooting for nothing less than its first Olympic gold medal in men’s hockey in 46 years. However, unlike the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” team composed of college kids, Sullivan has a highly paid core of NHL superstars to lead the charge in Milan. The U.S. power play yielded two goals in the opener.

"They were playing tight, and with the skill and puck possession and strength that we have, we knew we were going to win some battles," said Matthew Tkachuk. "But somebody had to be at the net. We tried to make it harder on the goalie, tried to make them haul us down. They took a couple penalties. We got a few goals off it."

Renars Krastenbergs replied for Latvia.

Latvia’s best Olympic finish was eighth place in 2014. However, the small Baltic nation treasures its memories of winning an IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship medal for the first time ever in 2023. That bronze medal came in a 4-3 win on Kristian Rubins’ overtime goal versus the U.S. in Tampere, Finland.

Latvian starting goalie Elvis Merzlikins, who plays for the Columbus Blue Jackets, was far busier than his American counterpart Connor Hellebuyck, a three-time Vezina Trophy winner with the Winnipeg Jets. In the third period, Arturs Silovs, the 2023 Worlds MVP now with the Pittsburgh Penguins, came in to relieve Merzlikins.

"Obviously, we knew it was going to be hard at the start," said Silovs. "They play fast, and we just tried to hold on, make a lot of blocks, and from there try to basically like cobra-strike them and score a goal and go from there."

To open the scoring, Brady Tkachuk accepted a nice saucer pass from his brother Matthew inside the Latvian blue line and snapped the puck past Merzlikins at 5:29.

A minute and a half later, top Minnesota Wild defenceman Quinn Hughes appeared to have doubled the U.S. lead on a nice set-up from Miller, his former teammate with the Vancouver Canucks. However, Latvian coach Harijs Vitolins challenged the play as offside and it was waved off.

The momentum swung back to Latvia as Krastenbergs tied it up at 7:25, charging to the crease to backhand in a loose puck. A member of the 2023 Worlds bronze medal team, the 27-year-old HC Olomouc forward is participating in his second Olympics.

Nelson thought he'd made it 2-1 U.S. at 11:35 with a nice tip on Brock Faber’s centre point drive. Vitolins again challenged the play, alleging Miller had interfered with Merzlikins in front. For the second time, the challenge proved successful. No goal.

Blueliner Noah Hanifin tried to get America going by rocking Latvian forward Sandis Vilmanis with a big bodycheck near the U.S. bench. Late in the first period, the Latvians weathered the storm during the first American power play as Nelson rang one off the goalie's left post. Eichel also hit the iron moments later.

In the second period, Merzlikins stymied everyone from Jake Guentzel to Jaccob Slavin. But the Columbus Blue Jackets goalie couldn’t shut the door when Jack Hughes set up Nelson to execute a sweet backhand move. Nelson pointed emphatically at the net as he celebrated the 2-1 lead at 10:38.

The crowd gasped when Latvian defenceman Janis Jaks went airborne in a collision with Brady Tkachuk in front of Merzlikins’ net. Merzlikins foiled the Ottawa Senators captain in tight seconds later.

"Our goal was just to try to wear them down, stick with it, not try to force anything," said Hanifin. "Obviously, they battled hard."

Thompson finally gave the U.S. a two-goal gap on the power play at 17:25. Eichel found the towering Buffalo Sabres star down low and he pivoted to roof a backhander home. Thompson ended a 92-year gold medal drought for the U.S. at the 2025 Men’s Worlds with his 1-0 overtime winner in the final versus Switzerland.

With just 0:11 left in the middle frame, Nelson finished off another sweet feed from Jack Hughes to make it 4-1. Second-period shots were 17-2 for the Americans.

At 2:35 of the third period, the U.S. clicked again with the man advantage. An Eichel pass bounced off a Latvian defender's stick to Matthews, who shot high to the glove side with his characteristic ease for a 5-1 lead. Matthews has 427 regular-season goals, tops in Toronto Maple Leafs history.

"Special teams are great, and all in all, everybody was super-important for us today," said Matthew Tkachuk.

The atmosphere at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena was fantastic, as Latvian chants competed with American cheers all night long.

Defenceman Alberts Smits, the lone player from the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship to compete at these Olympics, appeared in his first official game with the Latvian senior national team. He had a goal and four assists in five games at the World Juniors. Smits – an 18-year-old who plays for Jukurit in Mikkeli, Finland – is a top prospect for the upcoming NHL draft.

"Of course, it's a great opportunity, a great challenge for me that I'm glad and honoured to take," said Smits. "It's a way to actually see myself and the things I need to improve, playing against the top players in the world."