The men’s Olympic hockey tournament has reached the elimination stage, with Sweden facing Latvia Tuesday evening. A win for Tre Kronor would likely pit them against the United States in the quarterfinals as early as Wednesday.
Sweden won two of its three group play games, finishing with a plus-one goal differential, narrowly missing direct qualification to the quarterfinals. A late goal conceded in their final group stage match against Slovakia (5-3) forced them into the round of 16.
The first game of the day saw Germany face France at 12:10 local time, with Leon Draisaitl’s German team heavily favored despite only securing one win in their three group C matches. Simultaneously, Switzerland played Italy, expected to secure a comfortable victory even without star player Kevin Fiala, whose tournament ended due to an injury sustained during a group stage game against Canada.
At 16:40, the Czech Republic took on Denmark. While the Czechs were favored, they had not performed convincingly in the tournament thus far. Denmark, still, demonstrated resilience, offering strong resistance to the United States in their group stage encounter and securing a third-place finish in their group with a win against Latvia, earning them a matchup against the Czech Republic instead of Sweden.
The tournament bracket is seeded as follows: 1. Canada, 2. USA, 3. Slovakia, 4. Finland, 5. Switzerland, 6. Germany, 7. Sweden, 8. Czech Republic, 9. Denmark, 10. Latvia, 11. France, 12. Italy.
In the event of a tie after regulation time in the elimination rounds, a 10-minute, 3-on-3 sudden death overtime period will be played. If no goal is scored, a five-round shootout will determine the winner. For the final, the overtime period is extended to 20 minutes, 3-on-3, with sudden death, and no shootout will be held. Between each period of overtime, the ice will be resurfaced with an 18-minute intermission.
Tuesday’s schedule includes: 12:10 – Germany vs. France (SVT/HBO Max), Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena; 12:10 – Switzerland vs. Italy (TV4/HBO Max), Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena; 16:40 – Czech Republic vs. Denmark (TV4/HBO Max), Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena; and 21:10 – Sweden vs. Latvia (SVT/HBO Max), Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena.
The quarterfinal schedule for February 18th is: 12:10 – Slovakia vs. TBD, Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena; 16:40 – Canada vs. TBD, Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena; 18:10 – Finland vs. TBD, Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena; and 21:10 – USA vs. TBD, Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena.
During the group stage, the USA faced controversy with two goals disallowed against Latvia in their opening match. TV4 expert Henrik Lundqvist commented on the calls, stating, “In the NHL, I’m pretty sure those would have been goals. It’s fairly strict officiating in my opinion.” The US ultimately defeated Latvia comfortably, but the disallowed goals were a point of contention.
