MILAN – The USA men’s hockey team put themselves in a good position during preliminary play only to face the toughest possible opponent in the quarterfinals.
In order to keep going at the 2026 Winter Olympics, the Americans will have to go through Sweden on Feb. 18 at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. That matchup was set on Tuesday, when Sweden defeated Latvia 5-1.
‘They’re one of the powerhouses in the world, they’ve been playing really well this tournament,’ USA alternate captain Matthew Tkachuk said. ‘I think every single player plays in the NHL so we’re very familiar with a lot of those players, a lot of guys play with guys, play against them all the time. Just a very deep team top to bottom.’
USA coach Mike Sullivan said that ‘we’re very well aware of the personnel group that they have. And they’re a really good team.’
The other quarterfinals are Canada against Czechia, Slovakia against Germany, and Finland against Switzerland. The Swedes ended up having to play a qualification game on Tuesday after finishing as the seventh seed following round-robin group play.
The Swedes are loaded with NHL players, but haven’t looked in sync at the Olympics, coasting through a victory against Italy (which left the tournament winless in four games), getting outplayed by Finland and giving up a late goal in a victory over Slovakia that ended up costing Sweden in the standings.
The Americans come into the game well-rested after being off on Monday thanks to finishing preliminary play 3-0 and earning a bye into the quarterfinals.
USA vs Sweden history in Olympics men’s hockey
NHL players started going to the Olympics in 1998 (Nagano), and Sweden beat the USA 4-2 in the preliminary round at that event.
In 2002 (Salt Lake City), the two teams didn’t meet. In 2006 (Torino), Sweden defeated the USA 2-1 in preliminary round action.
In 2010 (Vancouver), the teams didn’t meet, nor did they meet in 2014 (Sochi). The NHL did not send its players to the Winter Olympics in 2018 and 2022.
Who are Sweden’s top stars?
Lucas Raymond had five points in the three preliminary games. Gabriel Landeskog is the team captain; he had one goal in group play. Elias Petterson came into the qualification game with a team-leading two goals. On the back end, the Swedes are led by Rasmus Dahlin, Erik Karlsson and Victor Hedman.
Sweden has relied on Jacob Markstrom and Filip Gustavsson in net.