The men’s Olympic hockey qualification playoffs wrapped up on Tuesday. The results determined which teams advanced to the quarterfinal round on Feb. 18, and which countries are headed home.
Ahead of the playoffs, Slovakia, Canada, Finland and the United States secured byes to the quarterfinals based on their group-stage results.
Germany dismantled Italy 5-1 in the qualification playoff of the men’s Olympic hockey tournament.
MATCH RESULTS
German captain Leon Draisaitl got on the board first for the German squad and added two assists in the win, including one to Joshua Samanski, his Edmonton Oilers teammate.
“The tournament is getting smaller and harder each round. The teams are going to get better, we know ” Draisaitl said after the game. “We have a big task ahead of us tomorrow. Today was a good step and we will get ready for tomorrow.”
Germany plays Juraj Slafkovsky and Slovakia next in the quarterfinal round at 6:10 a.m. ET on Wednesday.
Switzerland took care of business against Italy in the men’s qualification playoff and advanced to the quarterfinal round.
MATCH RESULTS
Philipp Kurashev, Roman Josi and Nico Hischier each chipped in a goal in the 3-0 Swiss win.
Despite the loss, Damian Clara saved 48 shots in goal for Italy.
“Every game is a knockout game now and Finland are a great team,” Kurashev said after the win. “We’re going to give our best and hopefully do something great here,” he added.
Switzerland will advance to take on Finland in a quarterfinal matchup at 12:10 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
Czechia edged Denmark 3-2 to move on to the quarterfinal round of the men’s Olympic hockey tournament.
Roman Cervenka, David Kampf and Martin Necas each scored in the qualification playoff.
MATCH RESULTS
“Happy we made it to the next round, but we should control the game better. We were leading 3-1 and gave them more chances,” Cervenka said after the game. “We gave them too many power plays and chances. If this happens tomorrow, we have no chance.”
Czechia will face top-ranked Canada in the next round at 10:40 a.m. ET on Wednesday.
Sweden toppled Latvia 5-1 in the qualification playoff to advance onward.
MATCH RESULTS
The five-goal output was supplied by Sweden’s Adrian Kempe, Gabriel Landeskog, Filip Forsberg, Mika Zibanejad and William Nylander.
“This is when the fun begins,” said Landeskog. “It’s important for us to regroup after this one, obviously recognize what we did well but understanding how our opponent’s going to go up another level tomorrow and recognize what a great opportunity it is to see what we’re made of,” he added.
Eduards Tralmaks scored the only goal for Latvia.
Sweden will meet the United States in the quarterfinal round, the final game on Wednesday at 3:10 p.m. ET.
Reuters contributed to this article.
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