Vancouver (AFP) – Bobby Ryan and David Backes scored unassisted goals as the United States beat Switzerland 3-1 in the opening game of one of the most anticipated hockey tournament’s in Olympic history.

Ryan Malone also scored and goaltender Ryan Miller made 14 saves for the US who have won the gold twice at the Olympic Games and both times at home (Squaw Valley 1960 and Lake Placid 1980).

“This was a good beginning,” said US coach Ron Wilson. “We are going to get better every game. This is a fairly quiet group, but quietly confident.”

Malone scored the US’s second goal of the middle period jamming home a rebound during a mad scramble in front of Swiss goalie Jonas Hiller. Another Ryan, defenceman Ryan Suter, assisted on the play.

“We got so many Ryans it is confusing,” said Wilson. “I say ‘Ryan’ and five guys turn around. I am going to have to figure out what their nicknames are.”

There are no less than six players with the name Ryan on the US roster.

It some ways Tuesday’s men’s hockey tournament opener must have felt like a home game for Team USA in front of the sold out crowd of more than 16,706 at the Canada Hockey Place arena.

The US border is just an hour’s drive from Vancouver so many in the crowd wore the red, white and blue and chanted “USA, USA, USA”.

But the majority of the spectators were decked out in the red and white of the Canadian team which is scheduled to play the second match of the day against Norway. Russia faces off against Latvia in the evening game.

“We learned a lot about our linemates and what we have to do,” forward Bobby Ryan said. “We got some chemistry going. All the goals were the result of banging away.”

The Americans are one of the youngest teams in the tournament with 16 players under the age of 26.

And perhaps some of their young stars haven’t fully grasped the magnitude of the Olympic Games just yet. On Tuesday they didn’t appear to have skipped a beat in making the transition from their National Hockey League teams to their first Olympic Games.

“They are just good players,” said US captain Jamie Lagenbrunner. “They know how to relax themselves in big games and they are excited for it.”

Anaheim Ducks forward Bobby Ryan said while he may have appeared composed on the ice that wasn’t always the case.

“I was much more nervous than any game I have played in a long time. I was a lot more jittery than I imagined,” Ryan said.

Ryan opened the scoring with an unassisted goal with just over a minute left in the first period shooting from the slot and beating Hiller up high.

The US turned up the heat in the second period peppering the Hiller with 14 shots compared to just four for the Swiss.

Backes made it 2-0 five minutes into the second, picking up a loose puck in front of his own net and charging the full length of the ice.

Roman Wick scored the only goal for the Swiss in the third period.

“In the end their cold-blooded scoring opportunities were superior to ours today,” said Swiss coach Ralph Krueger.