MILAN – The seeding for the qualifying round and the quarterfinals will be known at the end of the final day of the preliminary round of the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Canada and Slovakia have already won Group A and Group B, respectively, and the Group C title will come down to the USA-Germany game at 3:10 p.m. ET (USA Network, Peacock) on Sunday, Feb. 15.
The USA clinches Group C if it wins. Germany would clinch it if it beats the Americans in regulation because they would be tied at six points each and the first tiebreaker is head-to-head competition.
That’s important because the top four seeds (group winners and best second-place team) get a bye to the quarterfinals. The remaining eight teams have to play in the qualifying round, with the four winners advancing to the quarterfinals.
If the USA wins in regulation, the top overall seed would also be in play, with goal differential being the deciding factor. Canada, which plays France, is plus 9 while the USA is plus 7 heading into Sunday’s action.
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The Swiss finished second in Group A standings with the 2026 Winter Olympic’s men’s hockey tournament first foray into overtime. Dean Kukan scored 1:49 into overtime on a two-on-two, firing the puck up and over the right shoulder of Czechia netminder Lukas Dostal.
“It was important to get the second seeding, to get the win,” Kukan said. “It was nice.”
The Swiss awaited the outcome of the other matches on the last day of round-robin action to find out where they would be seeded going into the qualifying matches on Tuesday.
Filip Chlapik put the Czechs on the scoreboard at at 15:19 of the first period, but Roman Josi and Timo Meier put the Swiss in the lead in the second period. The Swiss were without one of their top players, Kevin Fiala, who suffered a lower-body injury in a game against Canada.
“It’s a huge loss for us, he’s probably our best player,” Kukan said. “But now everyone is giving just a little bit more, just for him. I think today showed that, it was our best game and hopefully we continue like that.”
Radim Simek and Pius Suter traded goals in the first 10 minutes of the third period. Martin Necas pushed the game past regulation with a goal with less than three minutes to play.
All times Eastern and accurate as of Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026, at 7:23 p.m.
Peacockis streaming every game live.
The 12 teams are divided into three groups. They are:
Teams play one game each against the other three teams in their group. Countries get three points for a regulation win, two for an overtime win, one for an overtime/shootout loss and zero for a regulation loss.
After the preliminary round is complete, teams are seeded 1 through 12 under the following criteria:
The top four teams (group winners and best second-place team) get a bye to the quarterfinals. Teams 5-12 play in a qualifying round, with the winners going to the quarterfinals.
Playoff qualification games are on Feb. 17, quarterfinals are Feb. 18 and semifinals are Feb. 20.
The bronze medal game is Feb. 21 and the gold medal game is Sunday, Feb. 22.
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