Olympic Hockey Preview: Auston Matthews, William Nylander to clash in quarter finals, Canada to face Czechia
It’s somewhat shocking to see two teams like this in the quarter finals, given that an argument easily could have been made for both of those teams to finish among the top four seeds, but it goes to show how important goal differential is in a tournament like this. Despite Sweden, Slovakia, and Finland all finishing with the same record, it came down to goal differential among each of the three teams that tied.
Slovakia beat Finland 4-1 and lost 5-3 to Sweden, giving them a plus-1 goal differential. Finland lost 4-1 to Slovakia but beat Sweden 4-1, giving them an even differential. And Sweden beat Slovakia 5-3 but lost 4-1 to Finland, giving them a minus-1 goal differential and costing them a bye to the quarter finals. Of course, they made quick work of it after beating Latvia 5-1 in the play-off, but they’re now faced with a matchup against the United States, easily the toughest matchup of the three teams as Finland will face off against Switzerland and Slovakia will take on Germany.
Nylander is fourth on his team in scoring with two goals and four points in four games, while Ekman-Larsson has been used sparingly by his team and hasn’t recorded a point in four games. Matthews, meanwhile, shares the team lead for scoring with Matthew Tkachuk, both sitting at five points in three games.
While Sweden’s tournament has been underwhelming from a seeding standpoint, they will undoubtedly show up to play against a USA team that has yet to lose a game at the tournament. The States have benefitted from the easiest pool, with Germany, Denmark, and Latvia rounding out their divisional matchups, so it will be a good test for both teams who both have something to prove.
Canada will face off against Czechia at 10:40 am EST while Sweden and USA will clash at 3:40 pm EST.