U.S. goalkeeper Connor Hellebuyck and his teammates arrive for a preliminary round men's hockey game against Latvia at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, on Thursday. (AP photo)

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 only make 17 saves.

Elvis Merzlikins was under siege at the other end, 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.

Canada spiffy

Macklin Celebrini scored Canada’s first goal in the return of the NHL to the Olympics and Jordan Binnington stopped all 26 shots he faced in a 5-0 defeat of Czechia that showed the tournament favorite is already a well-oiled machine.

“Our intentions were really good with the way we played,” captain Sidney Crosby said. “I thought we were physical. We were moving our feet. The execution, sometimes that comes with time. But even other times we did some good things and executed well. Just a matter of building off of that.”

Celebrini, his country’s youngest player at 19, deflected a shot by Cale Makar past Lukas Dostal with 5.7 seconds left in the first, putting an exclamation point on a terrific, back-and-forth period. After Mitch Marner’s saucer pass to Mark Stone for his goal and Bo Horvat’s on a breakaway later in the second, Czechia never stood a chance.

“When you’re playing in the Olympics for the first time, it never gets old, and everybody’s got their jitters,” coach Jon Cooper said. “You know what I liked? I thought we got better as that game went on.”

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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics