Men's Olympic group play ends, elimination round seedings set

The preliminary round of the Winter Olympics men’s hockey tournament wrapped up today. Groups A and C played their final games in Milan, as the seedings for the elimination round were set. All 12 teams advance to the knockout stage, but four byes directly to the quarterfinals are the top prizes for excelling in group play.

Canada Wins Group A

The first game of the final day of the preliminary round gave us the best game of the tournament, so far. Switzerland overcame coughing up the lead late in the third period to beat Czechia 4-3 in overtime. After former Blackhawk David Kampf assisted on Czechia’s first-period goal, Roman Josi and Timo Meier scored in the middle frame to give the Swiss a 2-1 lead heading into the final stanza. Shortly after Radim Simek tied the game, another former Blackhawk, Pius Suter, restored Switzerland’s lead with less than 12 minutes to play. Martin Necas, who assisted on the first two Czech goals, tied the game with 2:06 remaining in regulation. Switzerland came out focused, and Dean Kukan won the game just 1:49 into extra time.

Team Canada rolled to the Group A title and a bye into the quarterfinals by beating France 10-2. Macklin Celebrini continued his big tournament with another two goals and an assist. He was one of four Canadians with three points, as Mark Stone, Sidney Crosby, and Connor McDavid all had a goal and two assists. Their other goals came from Tom Wilson, Devon Toews, Cale Makar, Bo Horvat, and Brandon Hagel. Wilson also received a game misconduct for fighting Pierre Crincon after a big hit on Nathan MacKinnon. Neither player will receive any further discipline for dropping the gloves.

Team USA Takes Group C

Denmark picked up their first win of the tournament by beating Latvia 4-2. Nick Olesen, who plays professionally in Czechia, scored two goals and recorded an assist to lead the Danes. Carolina Hurricanes forward Nikolaj Ehlers scored the game-winning goal after Latvia erased a 2-0 lead. His teammate, goaltender Frederik Anderssen, made 33 saves in the win.

The United States won its third straight game to sweep through Group C by beating Germany 5-1. Captain Auston Matthews had two goals and an assist to lead the way. He’s playing a physical game between the dots, which is what he’ll need to continue to do in the elimination rounds. Zach Werenski, Brock Faber, and Tage Thompson scored the other American goals. Ottawa Senators star Tim Stutzle was the only German to beat goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, who stopped 23 of 24 shots.

Elimination Round Seedings Set

As explained before the tournament, al 12 teams advance to the elimination round. The winners of the three groups and the top second-place country get the four byes into the quarterfinals, while the rest go into the Playoff Round. Teams will be reseeded for the semifinals. Here is how the rest of the tournament shakes out.

Playoff Round (Tuesday, Feb. 17)

(6) Germany vs (11) France (5:10 am CT)
(5) Switzerland vs (12) Italy (5:10 am CT)
(8) Czechia vs (9) Denmark (9:40 am CT)
(7) Sweden vs (10) Latvia (2:10 pm CT)

Quarterfinals (Wednesday, Feb 18)
(3) Slovakia vs Germany/France winner (5:10 am CT)
(1) Canada vs Czechia/Denmark winner (9:40 am CT)
(4) Finland vs Switzerland/Italy winner (11:10 am CT)
(2) United States vs Sweden/Latvia winner (2:10 pm CT)

Semifinals (Friday, Feb. 20)
Semifinal 1 (9:40 am CT)
Semifinal 2 (2:10 pm CT)

Saturday, Feb. 21
Bronze Medal Game (1:40 pm CT)

Sunday, Feb. 22
Gold Medal Game (7:10 am CT)