Jake Mozarsky
Team USA men’s hockey enters the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics with a real chance to win the gold medal for the first time since 1980, and it started on Thursday with a Group C game against Latvia.
The Americans finished their opening statement with an emphatic 5-1 victory. While the first period was a frustrating exercise in “what-ifs”—with two U.S. goals overturned by Latvian challenges — the talent gap eventually became too much to overcome.
After Brock Nelson’s two-goal second period surge gave the U.S. a 4-1 cushion, captain Auston Matthews added the exclamation point in the third period. Matthews buried his first career Olympic goal on a power play to seal the win. Team USA outshot Latvia 38-18, while Connor Hellebuyck stood tall with 17 saves to secure the tournament-opening win.
Here’s the complete box score from Team USA’s opening win.
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Jake Mozarsky joined The Sporting News as an Editorial Intern in August 2025 after earning both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northwestern University. He has previously written for Marquee Sports Network, Chicago This Week, Inside NU and The Daily Northwestern.
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