With NHL stars back in the Winter Olympics for the first time since 2014 (in Sochi, Russia), the U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team is a little more recognizable to the casual fan.
Stars such as Auston Matthews (Toronto Maple Leafs), Jack Eichel (Vegas Golden Knights), Matthew Tkachuk (Florida Panthers), Jake Guentzel (Tampa Bay Lightning) and Quinn Hughes (Minnesota Wild) populate the U.S. roster, which is coached by Mike Sullivan (New York Rangers). Sullivan grew up in Marshfield and is a former Patriot Ledger All-Scholastic.
A favorable draw should see the Americans cruise into the quarterfinals. After that, it’s anybody’s guess with Canada, Sweden, Finland an Czechia all presenting stiff challenges.
Canada — which probably betters the U.S. in the star department with Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers), Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar (both Colorado Avalanche) and Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins) — enters as the slight tournament favorite. The Canadians, who also feature ex-Boston Bruin standout Brad Marchand, won gold at the past two Winter Olympics involving NHL players (2010 and 2014) and also took the crown at last year’s NHL-sponsored 4 Nations Face-Off.
Team USA, which is seeking the country’s first gold medal since the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” underdogs, kicks off its quest today at 3:10 ET against Latvia (USA Network, Peacock).
Stick here for live updates from that game.
Our updates from USA-Latvia will start approximately 90 minutes before first faceoff with some pre-game primer.
The U.S. endured a frustrating first period in their Olympic opener, hitting the pipes twice and having two goals disallowed on coaches’ challenges. But it was smooth sailing from there as the Americans broke open a 1-1 tie with three goals in the back half of the second period. Brock Nelson (2), Brady Tkachuk, Tage Thompson and Auston Matthews had the goals. Jack Hughes had 3 assists and Jack Eichel had a pair. The U.S. outshot Latvia 38-18.
Team USA kills off the Latvia power play. Americans have a 35-15 edge in shots.
Latvia earns a power play as Dylan Larkin (Detroit Red Wings) is whistled for slashing. Latvia is 0 for 1 on the power play tonight.
Auston Matthews (Toronto Maple Leafs) converts a feed from Jack Eichel (Vegas Golden Knights) to extend the Americans’ lead on the power play. Jack Hughes (New Jersey Devils) had the secondary assist, his third helper of the game. Eichel has 2 assists.
Latvia is subbing out Elvis Merzlikins (Columbus Blue Jackets) in favor of Arturs Silovs (Pittsburgh Penguins) as we start the third period.
If you missed it, here’s a look at Brock Nelson’s goal that put the U.S. up 2-1 in the second period.
That’s more like it. After a frustrating first period in which the USA had a pair of goals disallowed on coaches’ challenges, the Americans exploded for three second-period goals. Brock Nelson sandwiched a pair of strikes around a Tage Thompson power-play goal with all the action bunched into the last half of the period.
Team USA has a 32-11 advantage in shots.
Brock Nelson (Colorado Avalanche) caps off a dazzling passing sequence with his second goal of the game. Jack Hughes (New Jersey Devils) made the final pass.
Tage Thompson (Buffalo Sabres) doubles the Americans’ lead by roofing a backhander at the left post for a power-play goal. Jack Eichel (Vegas Golden Knights) and Quinn Hughes (Minnesota Wild) with the assists. USA has a 30-11 lead in shots.
Brock Nelson (Colorado Avalanche) puts Team USA ahead with a backhander as Latvia left him all alone in front. Jack Hughes (New Jersey Devils) and Vincent Trocheck (New York Rangers) with the assists. Hughes made a great pass.
The Americans have a 21-11 shot advantage but no lead.
The Americans do a good job on the penalty kill to keep the game tied early in 2nd period.
Team USA needs its PK to step up here as Jake Guentzel (Tampa Bay Lighting) is whistled for a penalty less than a minute into the second period.
Latvia, which is officially the Republic of Latvia, is in Northern Europe. Its borders include Estonia (to the north), Lithuania (to the south), Russia (to the east) and Belarus (to the southeast). Latvia is located on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea.
Riga is the capital of Latvia with a population around 600,000. The country’s total population is between 1.8 and 1.9 million.
International Ice Hockey Federation prohibits fighting, and it could lead to an ejection and a suspension.
“Fighting is not part of international ice hockey’s DNA,” the organization states in Rule 46 of the IIHF rulebook. “Players who willingly, participate in a ‘brawl/fight’ so-called ‘willing combatants,’ shall be penalized accordingly by the referee(s) and may be ejected from the game,” the rulebook says. “Further supplementary discipline may be imposed.”
At the first intermission, the game MVP so far is the Latvia coaching staff, which got two U.S. goals disallowed on challenges — the first for offsides, the second for goaltender interference. Brady Tkachuk gave the U.S. the lead at 5:29, but Latvia’s Renars Krastenbergs answered at 7:25. Team USA has a 15-9 shot advantage.
Team USA gets two shots but no goals with the man-advantage. Brock Nelson (Colorado Avalanche) just hit the post with the teams skating 5 on 5. Still 1-1 with just under a minute left in the first period.
Having had two goals disallowed already, the U.S. has a great chance to grab the lead as Latvia is whistled for a penalty with 4:08 left the first period. We’re still tied 1-1 coming out of a TV timeout.
Minnesota Wild defenseman Brock Faber’s point shot deflected off J.T. Miller for what would have been a 2-1 U.S. lead, but Latvia wins a challenge for goaltender interference. Still 1-1 with just over 8 minutes left here in an eventful first period.
Team USA goes up 2-1 with J.T. Miller parked in front of the Latvia goal. Latvia challenges for goaltender interference.
How about that? The underdogs strike back to tie it up at 1-1 with 12:35 left in the first period as Renars Krastenbergs (not an NHL player) capitalizes off a scramble in front of the U.S. net. The goal came just 26 seconds after Latvia’s successful offsides challenge.
Latvia successfully challenges Quinn Hughes’ goal for offsides. Americans are back to a 1-0 lead with just under 13 minutes left in first period.
Defenseman Quinn Hughes (Minnesota Wild) puts the puck in the net with 13:01 left in the first period for what should be a 2-0 U.S lead. Latvia challenges the play for offsides.
Brady Tkachuk (Ottawa Senators) puts the U.S. in front at 5:29 of the first period with a sizzling wrister off an assist from his brother, Matthew, who plays for the Florida Panthers. Zach Werenski (Columbus Blue Jackets) get a secondary assist.
Not it is not. The 2026 Olympic hockey rink in Milan measures 196.85 feet long by 85.3 feet wide, which is slightly smaller in length than the standard 200-foot by 85-foot NHL rink.
From a Dec. 8 statement by the International Ice Hockey Federation regarding the rink dimensions for Milano Cortina 2026:
“While these dimensions differ slightly from a typical NHL rink, they are consistent with IIHF regulations, match the rink size used at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games and are fully consistent with the dimensions the NHL requires as part of its Global Series Game arena specifications.”
Team USA has kicked off its Olympics against Latvia.
You would? Well, here’s one to get you in the mood, courtesy of USA Hockey:
The U.S. will conclude the round-robin portion of its schedule this weekend with games against Denmark on Saturday, Feb. 14 and Germany on Sunday, Feb. 15. Both will start at 3:10 p.m. ET and be televised on USA Network and streamed on Peacock. Games in the qualifying round (which the U.S. hopes to avoid) will be played on Tuesday, Feb. 17 and shown on USA. The quarterfinals will be held Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 3:10 p.m. and the semifinals on Friday, Feb. 20 at 3:10 p.m. NBC will broadcast both of those rounds.
The bronze-medal game is set for Saturday, Feb. 21 at 2:10 p.m. If the U.S. is playing in that, NBC will televise it. The gold-medal game will be played on Sunday, Feb. 22 (8:10 a.m., NBC).
Not much history here as the teams have only met one other time, skating to a 3-3 tie at the 2006 Games in Torino, Italy. Team USA got goals from Brian Gionta, Craig Conroy and Jordan Leopold in that one. John Grahame made 22 saves in the U.S. net.
Latvia’s greatest hockey achievement did come at the expense of the U.S., though, as Kristians Rubins’ goal in the 3-on-3 OT period lifted Latvia to a 4-3 win over the Americans in the bronze-medal game of the 2023 IIHF World Championship in Tampere, Finland. Artus Silovs, who’s on the Olympic roster, was in goal for Latvia that day. He posted a 7-3 record with a 2.20 GAA and a .921 save percentage at the tournament and was named the tournament’s MVP and best goaltender.
Courtesy of USA Hockey, here’s how the Americans plan to line up for today’s Olympic opener. Olympic teams can dress 22 players, up from 20 in NHL games:
Latvia’s roster includes just five NHL players, and two of them are goaltenders — Elvis Merzlikins (Columbus Blue Jackets) and Arturs Silovs (Pittsburgh Penguins). Merzlikins is 11-8-1 this season with a 3.49 goals-against average and an .888 save percentage. Silovs is 11-7-8 with a 2.93 GAA and an .894 save percentage.
Latvia’s other NHL players are:
— Vancouver Canucks center Teddy Blueger (5 goals, 3 assists, 8 points, plus-3 in 10 games played this season)
— Tampa Bay Lightning center Zemgus Girgensons (7-7–14, plus-3 in 48 games)
— Florida Panthers defenseman Uvis Balinskis (5-9–14, minus-10 in 48 games)
Latvia’s best Olympic showing was at the 2014 Sochi Games, when it reached the quarterfinals.
The game will be broadcast on USA Network. It also will be streamed on Peacock.
Yes, the former Boston Bruins star is suiting up for Canada. The 37-year-old has extensive international experience, having played in two world junior tournaments (2007, 2008), winning gold both times. He also played for Canada in the 2016 IIHF World Championship in Russia, winning gold again, and led Canada to gold at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. Finally, Marchand was on the Canadian squad that won last year’s inaugural NHL-sponsored 4 Nations Face-Off. Marchand is the oldest first-time Olympic hockey player.
There are 12 teams in the tournament, split into three groups:
Group A — Canada, Czechia, France, Switzerland
Group B — Finland, Italy, Slovakia, Sweden
Group C — U.S., Denmark, Germany, Latvia
Each team plays three round-robin games against the other teams in its group. The top team in each group, plus the best second-place team, automatically advance to the quarterfinals. The other eight teams then compete in the qualification playoffs to determine the remaining four quarterfinal spots.
Games are 60 minutes long and broken into three 20-minute periods. For first two rounds, a game that is tied after regulation heads to a 5-minute overtime played at 3-on-3. If the game is still tied, it goes to a best-of-five shootout.
In the quarterfinals and semifinals, overtime expands to 10 minutes at 3-on-3 before going to a shootout. The medal games will not have shootouts, with 20-minute overtimes at 3-on-3 being played until there’s winner.
All overtime periods are sudden death, with the first score ending the game.
Canada kicked off its Olympic run earlier on Thursday by beating Czechia, 5-0, in Group A. The Canadians got goals from ex-Boston University star Macklin Celebrini (San Jose Sharks), Mark Stone (Vegas Golden Knights), Bo Horvat (New York Islanders), Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche) and Nick Suzuki (Montreal Canadiens).
Also in Group A on Tuesday, Switzerland blanked France, 4-0, as Timo Meier (New Jersey Devils) scored twice.
In Wednesday’s opening Group B games, Slovakia upset Finland, 4-1, on a pair of goals from Juraj Slafkovsky (Montreal Canadiens), and Sweden staved off a major upset bid from Italy, winning 5-2 as Toronto Maple Leafs star William Nylander broke a 2-2 tie late in the second period.
In Group C, Denmark will face off against Germany today at 3:10 ET.
NHL players are back in the Olympics for the first time since 2014. But if this gathering of NHL stars seems more familiar than that, you’re probably thinking of last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off, an NHL-run mini-Olympic tournament held from Feb. 12-20, 2025. It featured only NHL players and included all-star teams representing the U.S. Canada, Sweden and Finland.
There was a round-robin tournament and a one-game final between the two highest-ranked teams. Connor McDavid scored in overtime at TD Garden to lead Canada over the U.S., 3-2, in the final to claim the crown.
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