HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, May 2 (UPI) -- Tim Thomas made 24 saves Friday and Team USA opened play at the 2008 World Hockey Championships with a 4-0 victory over Latvia.
The Americans out-shot Latvia 49-24 and scored three times with the man advantage. U.S. goals came from Dustin Brown, Patrick Kane, Zach Parise and Patrick O'Sullivan.
Team USA got off 49 shots against Latvian goalie Edgars Masalskis.
The other Group B game Friday saw Canada trounce Slovenia 5-1 behind Dany Heatley's hat trick. The Canadiens are the defending champions.
In Group D, Russia ran over Italy 7-1 and the Czech Republic defeated Denmark 5-2.
Play will begin Saturday in Group A and Group C. Belarus, Sweden, Switzerland and France make up Group A with Germany, Finland, Slovakia and Norway in Group C.
After round-robin play, the top two teams from each group will advance to the quarterfinals. The Americans will play Slovenia Sunday.
