{"id":483492,"date":"2026-02-12T09:19:26","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T14:19:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=483492"},"modified":"2026-02-12T09:23:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T14:23:11","slug":"2026-winter-olympics-prediction-usa-vs-latvia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2026\/02\/12\/2026-winter-olympics-prediction-usa-vs-latvia\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Winter Olympics Prediction: USA vs Latvia"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to\u00a0<\/span>Last Word On Hockey\u2019s\u00a0<\/span><\/em>Olympic\u00a0Predictions. Each day, our writers here at\u00a0<\/span>Last Word On Hockey<\/i>\u00a0look at the games and give in-depth analysis. Our team breaks down the key matchups, storylines, and stats, then makes predictions based on how they might play out. For this edition, we will look at Team USA battling Team Latvia<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Don\u2019t forget to check out more Olympic Predictions, as our writers continue this series throughout the Olympics.<\/span><\/p>\n

Olympic Predictions:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>USA vs Latvia
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

International Head-to-Head Record:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>USA leads 1-0<\/p>\n

Time:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>3<\/span>:10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST), 12:10 p.m. Pacific<\/p>\n

How to Watch<\/a>: In Canada: SN, CBC, CBC Gem, TSN<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In the United States: USA Network, Peacock<\/strong><\/h3>\n

We open up our Olympic predictions with the high-flying Americans taking on Latvia. It’s Day 2 of the games and some of the big hitters like Canada and the United States take to the ice. Group C looks like a favourable draw from Team USA. However, Latvia has proven to be a tough out at the junior and the senior level. The Americans have all NHL players, while Latvia has five NHLers on its roster. However, anything can happen when the puck gets dropped.<\/p>\n

The Team USA Story<\/h3>\n

We saw the United States get second at last year’s Four Nations Faceoff after falling to Canada in overtime in the tournament final. There’s plenty of offensive firepower on the roster. However, general manager Bill Guerin<\/a> did leave off speedsters like Montreal Canadiens<\/a> youngsters like Cole Caufield<\/a> and Lane Hutson<\/a> along with Dallas Stars<\/a> scorer Jason Robertson<\/a>. Despite this, players like Auston Matthews<\/a>, Jack Eichel<\/a>, and the Tkachuk brothers provide plenty of pop.<\/p>\n

Team USA is also pretty stout on the defensive end with Minnesota Wild<\/a> blueliner Quinn Hughes<\/a> and Boston Bruins<\/a> rearguard Charlie McAvoy<\/a> as the top pairing. There are also solid defenders in Carolina Hurricanes<\/a> defenceman Jaccob Slavin<\/a> and Brock Faber<\/a>. However, goaltending is where the Americans may really shine, as Connor Hellebuyck<\/a> is likely to get the start in between the pipes. However, always check social media for any lineup changes.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Latvia Story<\/h3>\n

Latvia has made gains<\/a> at the junior and senior level in recent years. We saw Latvia stun Canada at the most recent IIHF World Junior Championships. However, the Latvians are a mostly European based roster. There are veterans like Tampa Bay Lightning<\/a> forward Zemgus Girgensons<\/a> and Vancouver Canucks<\/a> Teddy Blueger<\/a> on the roster.<\/p>\n

The Latvian defence is going to be under fire dealing with the waves of talented American goalscorers coming at them. Florida Panthers<\/a> defenceman Uvis Balinskis<\/a> will lead the defensive group consisting of players from Europe. One place where Latvia has plenty of NHL experience is in goal with Elvis Merzlikins<\/a> of the Columbus Blue Jackets<\/a> and Arturs Silovs<\/a> of the Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> occupying roster spots.<\/p>\n

Prediction<\/h3>\n

Latvia will go out there and play with nothing to lose. There are zero expectations on them in this game and that can make them a very dangerous unit. However, the Americans are loaded with talent in all three parts of the lineup.<\/p>\n

We could see a slow start to this one like we saw with some of the teams on Day 1. However, the Americans will eventually pull away thanks to their deep lineup and ability to roll out four high-caliber lines against Latvia.<\/p>\n

Prediction: Team USA wins 5-1.<\/em><\/p>\n

Best Bets<\/h3>\n

We close out our Olympic hockey predictions with some prop bets of the night. The over\/under for this game is 6.5, and we picked the under in this game.<\/p>\n

As for individual props, take the Latvian goalie to get the over on 30 saves because they’ll see plenty of shots thrown their way. On the American side, take Brady Tkachuk<\/a> to score a goal.<\/p>\n

Main photo: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n

Please play responsibly, check for your local rules and age restrictions; some jurisdictions require ages 21+. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to\u00a0Last Word On Hockey\u2019s\u00a0Olympic\u00a0Predictions. Each day, our writers here at\u00a0Last Word On Hockey\u00a0look at the games and give in-depth analysis. Our team breaks down the key matchups, storylines, and stats, then makes predictions based on how they might play out. For this edition, we will look at Team USA battling Team Latvia.\u00a0Don\u2019t forget to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2352,"featured_media":477772,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2963,4547,304,4548,4524],"tags":[8208,359,8262,617,183],"class_list":["post-483492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-olympics","category-hockey","category-international-hockey","category-nhl","category-nhl-predictions","tag-2026-winter-olympics","tag-connor-hellebuyck","tag-team-latvia","tag-team-usa","tag-zemgus-girgensons"],"modified_by":"Dan Mount, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2352"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=483492"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":483524,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483492\/revisions\/483524"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/477772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=483492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=483492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=483492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}