SportsLine's expert Mike Severance reveals his USA vs. Latvia picks for their Winter Olympics men's hockey matchup on Thursday

Latvia picked up their first win of the men's Olympic ice hockey tournament against Germany on Saturday, and forward Zemgus Girgensons believes this is the best team they have had and they will only get better.

The U.S. men's hockey team had two goals disallowed in the first period but there was "never any panic" as the Americans beat Latvia.

In the easy win, Brock Nelson scored twice for the U.S., four players had two assists apiece and there was production up and down the lineup.

Team USA has begun play in the men’s hockey tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics with a dominant 5-1 win over Latvia. The Latvians held their own in the first period, getting to intermission tied 1-1 thanks to a pair of successful challenges that disallowed two U.

The US scored three goals in the second period, putting an end to any Latvian ideas of an upset, to win 5-1 in a group preliminary game Thursday.