Latvia vs United States Preview & Picks
The United States are tipped to open their campaign with a commanding win.
The USA roster is loaded with elite NHL talent, especially on the offensive end, and they are likely to have far too much firepower for an overmatched Latvia team.
- The United States are on a 7-game win streak
- The United States are 5-1 in the previous 6 meetings
- Latvia have lost 18 of the 24 games they have played at a Winter Olympics
- The previous 2 meetings produced over 6.5 total goals
Head To Head
- The United States lead the series 10-2-1 since 2005
- The United States won 6-3 when the two teams last met in May 2024
Latvia Form
Latvia enter this matchup having lost seven of their 12 games since the start of last year’s World Championship.
The Latvians failed to make it out of the group stage of that tournament, as they repeatedly suffered blowout losses to elite hockey nations.
They did notch a handful of wins though to finish a point off the top four in their group, beating France 4-1, Slovenia 5-2 and Slovakia 5-1.
Latvia took part in the Deutschland Cup later in the year, and they again struggled as they won just one of their three games.
The Latvians then fell at the first hurdle in the European Cup of Nations, as they were again between twice during a three-game group stage campaign.
United States Form
The United States go into their opening game at the Winter Olympics having won each of their previous seven games – a run that propelled them to World Championship glory.
The USA kicked off that campaign with a 5-0 shutout of Denmark, and backed that up with a 6-0 demolition of Hungary.
They failed to make it three-in-a-row as they then fell 3-0 to Switzerland, but their response to that loss was an emphatic one.
The United States clinched a place in the knockout stage by beating Norway 6-5, Germany 6-3, Kazakhstan 6-1 and the Czech Republic 5-2.
The USA then followed up a 5-2 quarter-final win over Finland and a 6-2 semi-final success against Sweden with a 1-0 overtime win against Switzerland in the final.