"Team USA men's hockey easily handled Latvia in their opening game of the 2026 Winter Olympics, securing a 5-1 victory. The focus now turns to their second round-robin game against Denmark on Saturday at 3:10 p.m. ET. Denmark lost their opener 3-1 to Germany but played better than the scoreline suggests. They outshot the Germans 38-25 but struggled to contain the star power of Leon Draisaitl and Tim Stutzle."
"While Denmark has just five NHL players on its roster, it has some talent in key positions, including in net, where Carolina Hurricanes goalie Frederik Andersen can get hot. If Team USA plays as they did against Latvia, especially over the last two periods, this shouldn't be close. Their forward depth was brilliant as Brock Nelson and Jack Hughes, who both started near the bottom of the lineup, had multi-point games and were some of the team's best players."
"The Americans got big contributions from some of their fourth-line forwards. Nelson scored twice while playing 13:25, and Jack Hughes was similarly effective in just 11:14 of ice time. Denmark projects to be another easy victory, so there isn't a ton of pressure on head coach Mike Sullivan to pull out any tricks, but he will want to get his lineup optimized as they head towards the elimination round."
Team USA opened the Olympics with a 5-1 win over Latvia and now faces Denmark in their second round-robin game. Denmark fell 3-1 to Germany but outshot them 38-25 and struggled only to contain Leon Draisaitl and Tim Stutzle. Denmark has five NHL players and goaltender Frederik Andersen can get hot. The Americans displayed strong depth as Brock Nelson and Jack Hughes delivered multi-point games despite limited ice time. Coach Mike Sullivan may adjust ice-time distribution to optimize the lineup ahead of elimination rounds. Nelson's 29 NHL goals place him tenth in the league this season.
Read at www.amny.com
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