Alex Ovechkin, Russia breeze past Latvia

Alex Ovechkin celebrates his first-period goal against Latvia with teammates Alexander Semin and Pavel Datsyuk. (Reuters)

Alex Ovechkin scored twice and the Caps- wait, no -- the Russians, easily beat Latvia, 8-2, to win their Olympic opener. Here's a recap from the AP:

Alex Ovechkin scored two goals as Russian routed Latvia 8-2 Tuesday to cap the opening day of the men's Olympic hockey tournament.

The Latvians avoided a shutout when Herberts Vasiljevs scored in the opening seconds of the final period.

The Russians responded with two goals -- including Danis Zaripov's second -- in less than a minute.

Russia's Evgeni Nabokov made 18 saves, and Edgars Masalskis stopped 37 shots for Latvia.

The Russians are a popular pick to win Olympic gold for the first time since 1992. They have some of the NHL's top talent and also loaded the team with many players from Russia's KHL.

Ovechkin now has seven Olympic goals in nine games played. (Thanks, Nate.)

Postgame notes, quotes and other hockey odds and ends to come later this morning on Heavy Medal.