Detroit Red Wings forward Lucas Raymond continued his impressive start to the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.

Latvia’s Teddy Blueger tried to make a pass out of his defensive zone, but the puck hit the skates of Nylander and went to the stick of Sweden teammate Joel Eriksson Ek, whose shot on goal hit Kempe’s right skate and went in for a 1-0 lead at 10:55.

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

Victor Hedman thinks that Team Sweden needs to play more physically in order to win a very important Olympic quarterfinal against Team Latvia. Sweden's NHL-heavy roster is changing how they play to deal with Latvia's aggressive style as the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics get closer to elimination.

Severance is coming off an outstanding NHL season in which he went 235-155-21 (plus $2,022). He entered the Olympic break on a 26-12 roll on NHL money-line picks this season, returning $1,326 for $100 players. Anyone following his hockey picks at their favorite sportsbooks could have seen huge returns.

Brock Nelson led Team USA to a commanding 5-1 victory over Latvia in their 2026 Milan Cortina Games opener, scoring twice in a dominant ice hockey performance.

The U.S. men's hockey team defeated Sweden in the quarterfinals and will face Slovakia in the men’s hockey semifinals.

McAvoy, Swayman, Jokiharju and Korpisalo are all still in the running for an Olympic medal ahead of Friday’s semifinal meetings. The gold-medal game is scheduled for Sunday at 8:10 a.m. ET; the bronze-medal game will be on Saturday at 2:40 p.m. ET.

Denmark and Latvia face off in this Group A men's ice hockey matchup during the 2026 Winter Olympics on Sunday.