USA captain Zach Parise has said that he did not expect his side to begin their 2014 Winter Olympics campaign with a 7-1 victory over Slovakia.

Paul Stastny scored twice for the American men's ice hockey team as they picked up a win in their opening Group A fixture at the Shayba Arena in Sochi on Thursday.

"I guess you never really expect to beat a team like that 7-1, and you never do it in a tournament like this," The AP quotes the 29-year-old as saying.

"We just capitalised on the chances we had, moved the puck well and used our speed."

In the other game in Group A on Thursday, hosts Russia defeated Slovenia 5-2.