MILAN — The Red, White and Blue train left the station about 30 minutes late.
Then it got rolling along like it hadn’t missed a beat.
The Americans beat Latvia 5-1 on Thursday night in their first match of the Olympic Games on which the highest of expectations have been placed on Team USA’s shoulders.
It was far more nervy than Canada’s 5-0 blowout of Czechia on the same ice a few hours prior, but by the time 60 minutes were up, all was right for the Yanks.
That was thanks in no small part to the combination of Brock Nelson and Jack Hughes on the fourth line, which was the Americans’ best line all night long, whether it was J.T. Miller or Vincent Trocheck completing the trio.
After the former Islander had a goal and an assist wiped off the board on successful Latvia challenges in the first period, accounting in part for a one-all tie after 20 minutes that had the Americans visibly shook, Nelson stayed calm, cool and collected.
He broke the tie off a slick feed from the younger Hughes brother and a slicker move in front for a backhand finish past Elvis Merzlikins at 10:38 of the second.
Team USA’s relaxation from there was visible and badly, badly needed.
By the end of the second period, it was 4-1 and Team USA looked every bit as dominant as you would have expected. Tage Thompson roofed a backhand on the power play to make it 3-1 and Jack Hughes fed Nelson a second time to make it 4-1, making the third period a fait accompili.
For good measure, the Latvians replaced goaltender Elvis Merzlikins to start the third, though it was unclear whether that was due to injury or performance.
On the whole, it was not quite the opening game Team USA would have wanted, and with every team in the tournament having played once, the Canadians look much better than their American counterparts who will be a point of comparison throughout.
The Jaccob Slavin-Brock Faber pair that was stalwart throughout the 4 Nations Face-Off was split up following a mess of a first period in which both players made a comedy of errors, leading to Renars Krastenbergs’ goal that tied the game at one for Latvia.
As a whole, the defense corps had a messy first 20 minutes, and the Americans looked caught out by Latvia’s intensity and physicality, with Auston Matthews taking an uncalled elbow up high from Dans Locmelis in the lead-up to the goal. They were disconnected. They were tense.
And it didn’t help that every time they seemed to get a reprieve, Latvian video coach Peteris Groms had an answer, catching Nelson offside and Miller interfering with Merzlikins to wipe off a pair of goals.
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The affliction was, gladly, temporary. The Tkachuk brothers never seemed to have it at all, with Brady scoring 5:29 into the contest while his line with his brother Matthew and Jack Eichel was solid all night.
Seventh defenseman Noah Hanifin was more involved after the first, meaning the pairs were less consistent, but the setup seemed to suit the U.S.
Quinn Hughes and Thompson were both effective in their best-on-best debuts; the former seemed to have the puck on his stick constantly, whizzing around the offensive zone and creating space, while the latter was a wrecking ball around the crease.
Dylan Larkin and Kyle Connor, both University of Michigan products, seemed to have chemistry on the third line.
Matthews made his presence known with a power-play goal that made it 5-1, and this version of Jack Hughes was night-and-day from what we saw a year ago at 4 Nations.
The Americans — like the Swedes and even like the Canadians — got better as the game went on. If they get better as the tournament goes on, too, then the first period will be forgotten before long.
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