Team USA still finding its footing despite starting Olympics with 2 wins

The United States is 2-0 in Group C action at the 2026 Olympics following a 5-1 win over Latvia on Thursday and a 6-3 triumph over Denmark on Saturday. What have we learned about Team USA thus far?

Mixed bag up front

The U.S. meets a beatable German squad Sunday to wrap up its round-robin schedule. A victory would give the Americans one of the top two seeds heading into the elimination stage of the tournament.

In other words, the gold medal co-favorite is in a cozy spot as far as black-and-white results are concerned.

Yet the wins over Latvia and Denmark weren't super impressive or inspiring. Whereas Canada looked dominant and intimidatingly deep in its first two contests, the U.S. has been just alright. Team USA is yet to put on a clinic.

"We're an unfinished product," center Jack Eichel told reporters Saturday.

The forward group is a microcosm - encouraging and discouraging starts.

The first line of Eichel between Brady Tkachuk and Matthew Tkachuk has been phenomenal. The trio has executed an offensive zone faceoff play three times already - in it, Eichel swipes the puck back to Brady, who gets a clean shot off because Matthew's setting a pick. The practiced play immediately led to Matthew hitting the post against Latvia, Brady scoring a goal versus Denmark, and defenseman Zach Werenski almost scoring Saturday.

Eichel also scored shortly after an O-zone faceoff on Saturday, albeit not through a set play. His four points and 10 shots on goal both lead the team.

Jack Hughes, Tage Thompson, and Brock Nelson are three other early standouts up front. Hughes has been lethal off the rush, frequently streaking down the flanks while flashing high-level creativity. He's recorded two primary assists and buried a nifty goal-line bank shot off a Danish goalie's skate.

Second-liners Auston Matthews, Jake Guentzel, and Matt Boldy have all had their moments of brilliance, but have underwhelmed overall. J.T. Miller and Vincent Trocheck have looked out of their depth at five-on-five due to a lack of foot speed. Kyle Connor, a sniper, has failed to record a shot in 21 total minutes.

The odd thing is that U.S. head coach Mike Sullivan, despite the relatively weak competition and obvious individual struggles, hasn't made any notable changes to the forward combinations during or between games. I'd like to see Hughes and Nelson promoted to the top six, and winger Clayton Keller - a healthy scratch so far - take Miller's spot.

Swayman out, Oettinger in

Connor Hellebuyck, the top American goalie, played well in the opener.

Jeremy Swayman then imploded against Denmark, allowing one of the worst goals in Olympic history - a harmless shot from center ice off the stick of a longtime stay-at-home defenseman - plus another stinker off a point shot.

Sullivan can't possibly dress Swayman again after such a woeful showing. Luckily, there's another stud netminder waiting in the wings in talented third-stringer Jake Oettinger, who's by no means a downgrade on Swayman.

Goaltending remains a massive strength for the United States. Still, Swayman's gaffe put an unsettling reality into the universe: anything can happen to any goalie at any time.

Hughes + Werenski = unfair

Quinn Hughes was forced to miss last February's 4 Nations Face-Off because of injury, which means the Olympics is our first opportunity to see the superstar blue-liner operate on the best-on-best international stage.

The 26-year-old has been his usual brilliant self in a team-high 22:17 a night.

Hughes clocking more stick-on-puck possession time than anyone in both games? Classic. Hughes slinging perfect passes to Eichel as the 6-foot-2 center with a beautiful skating stride moves through the neutral zone? Magic.

The U.S. throwing Hughes and Werenski over the boards for back-to-back shifts is is borderline unfair to the rest of the field. Both can dictate the flow of the game with elite mobility, offensive instincts, playmaking, and shooting from the back end. I expect Sullivan to lean on them heavily moving forward.

Special teams look legit

Team USA general manager Bill Guerin talked prior to the tournament about filling the bottom of the 25-man roster with players who can contribute in specific areas. One is special teams. So far, so very good in that respect.

The U.S. is the only nation with a perfect penalty killing percentage (six for six), and the power play has scored twice in five opportunities to tie Canada for the best rate (40%) in the tournament.

The first power play unit runs through Quinn Hughes and Eichel. Matthew Tkachuk is tasked with playmaking in and around the net, while right-handed Tage Thompson and left-handed Auston Matthews are the default triggerman.

Canada's PP1 features more eye-popping talent with Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Sidney Crosby, and Sam Reinhart. But there's something about Team USA's diverse cast of characters that's so damn tantalizing.

John Matisz is theScore's senior NHL writer. Follow John on Twitter/X (@MatiszJohn) or contact him via email ([email protected]).