OLYMPICS: Ice hockey-US kept spirit up after goals called off, says coach

MILAN – The United States never lost their composure despite having two goals disallowed in the opening period of their 5-1 victory over Latvia on Thursday, coach Mike Sullivan said, as the Americans kicked off their Olympic men's ice hockey campaign in Milan.

The U.S. were tied 1-1 with the underdogs going into the second period after the Latvians successfully challenged two of their goals, a frustrating start for the expected gold medal contenders.

"The energy on the bench is terrific and they never got deflated," Sullivan said. "We just kept playing."

Defenseman Quinn Hughes initially scored early in the contest, but the goal was called back for offside. Later, a goal from JT Miller was disallowed for goaltender interference, a call Sullivan said was harder to accept.

"It's such a difficult call and that one was a close one for me… I don't know that I agreed with the call," he told reporters. "But it doesn't matter what I think."

NHL players have had to adapt quickly after the league paused just a week ago, with the International Ice Hockey Federation enforcing stricter rules on physical contact than in the NHL. This marks the return of top-flight NHL players to the Olympics for the first time since 2014.

"I do think, in international play, just in my experience, they're a little bit stricter with that stuff than they are in the NHL," Sullivan added.

The U.S. will face Denmark, while Latvia plays Germany, in Saturday's Group C action.

-Reporting by Amy Tennery in Milan; Editing by Christian Radnedge/Reuters