MILAN — Brock Nelson scored twice, four teammates had two assists apiece and the U.S. opened the Olympics by rolling past Latvia 5-1 on Thursday night in a dominant showcase of some of the country’s best NHL players.
Bouncing back from having a pair of goals wiped out by coach’s challenges and Latvia tying it at 1, the Americans found their groove and for long stretches barely let their opponents have the puck. The U.S. outshot Latvia 38-18 and needed starter Connor Hellebuyck to make only 17 saves.
Elvis Merzlikins was under siege at the other end and, after Nelson’s second goal, sat in the crease with his head bowed in his lap. An odd-man rush became a version of Harlem Globetrotters on ice with pass after pass: Jack Hughes to brother Quinn to Matthew Tkachuk, back to Jack and then to Nelson to tap into a half-open net with 11.1 seconds left in the second period.
Brady Tkachuk scored the first U.S. goal of the tournament less than six minutes in, and Tage Thompson roofed a nifty backhander on the power play, making coach Mike Sullivan look smart for putting the 6-foot-6 winger on the loaded top unit. Four goals on 32 shots was enough to chase Merzlikins, who was pulled to start the third for Arturs Silovs.
Captain Auston Matthews welcomed Silovs to the Olympics with a power-play goal, assisted on by Jack Eichel and Quinn Hughes. Each of them had two assists, along with Matthew Tkachuk and Jack Hughes.
The U.S. next plays Denmark on Saturday night before wrapping up the preliminary round 24 hours later against Germany.
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