The U.S. men’s ice hockey team defeated Latvia 5-1 on Thursday in the first game in their attempt to claim gold for the United States of America. 

Brock Nelson led the team with two goals, while Brady Tkachuk, Tage Thompson, and captain Auston Matthews scored as well. The team played fast and physical, with Jack Hughes earning three assists, and Jack Eichel added two assists. 

On top of this, the U.S. goalie, Connor Hellebuyck, stopped 17 of 18 shots on the net.

With stars like Jake Guentzel, Matthews, and Brock Faber, the U.S. men’s hockey team should be in great shape to make a deep run in the Olympics. The men’s team’s biggest worry in the Olympics is Canada, which beat the U.S. in a competitive match in Beijing 2022 for gold, 3-2.

Meanwhile, on the women’s side, the Americans are the favorite to win the Olympic gold with players like Alex Carpenter, Cayla Barnes, and Aerin Frankel. 

America versus Canada is a huge matchup in women’s hockey as well. The American women just played Canada two days ago and beat them 5-0. 

The United States women’s team looks dominant as they head further into the bracket, and they have a real chance at winning gold for the country. 

The men’s team is a little bit more complicated. Canada still has a very dominant roster with players like Conner McDavid leading the way, so the men’s team will have a rough time attempting to defeat the Canadians.

This task is not impossible for the team. In last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off, the United States did beat Canada once, 3-1. But then Canada beat the U.S. 3-2 when it mattered most, the tournament championship. 

If the United States men are able to defeat Canada in the Olympics, then they would also have a great chance to win gold for the country. But they should still take teams like Sweden, Switzerland, and Denmark very seriously. 

Russia is not an issue in this year’s Olympics because it has been banned for invading Ukraine in 2022.