Russia destroy Latvia in Olympics opener

Team Russia has made an impressive start in its quest for gold in the men's Olympic ice hockey tournament. Vyacheslav Bykov's men had no problems in their opening Group B game against Latvia.

Aleksandr Ovechkin and Danis Zaripov each claimed a brace, Ilya Kovalchuk and Evgeny Malkin had a goal and an assist each, and Sergey Fedorov came off the rink with two assists under his belt.

Russia plays its next game on Thursday night against Slovakia.

Elsewhere, in Group A, Canada and the United States both won their opening games.

The Olympic hosts began their Olympic hockey tournament by hammering Norway, scoring eight goals against zero from the Scandinavian side.

The United States also showed confidence, beating hard nut Switzerland 3-1.