Olympic Hockey Schedule 2014: TV and Live Stream Info for Day 12
International hockey fans in America might want to call into work sick on Wednesday for what's sure to be an action-packed round of competition at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
All eight quarterfinalists will play on Day 12 of the XXII Winter Games. It follows Tuesday's batch of knockout-round games, which cut the field down from a dozen. From here on out, we can expect quality matches in every men's hockey game as this wide-open field goes for gold.
Each of the four quarterfinal matchups will be broadcast live on American TV Wednesday, and you can also watch live online with NBC Live Extra. Here's the entire TV lineup plus a quick preview of each contest.
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| 3 a.m. | (1) Sweden | (8) Slovenia | NBC SN |
| 7:30 a.m. | (4) Finland | (5) Russia | NBC SN |
| 12 p.m. | (3) Canada | (11) Latvia | MSNBC |
| 12 p.m. | (2) United States | (7) Czech Republic | USA |
(1) Sweden vs. (8) Slovenia
Sweden (3-0) emerged out of a field of heavyweights to claim the No. 1 seed and one of four byes into the quarterfinals. While the United States and Canada also went 3-0, the Swedes separated themselves with three regulation victories, giving them the most points (9) of any team in the group stage.
Group C was certainly a balanced one, but Sweden didn't look overly dominant with 10 goals scored versus five scored against. In contests against Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Latvia, Swedish goalie Henrik Lundqvist allowed five goals on 78 shots (93.59 percent).
It will be interesting to see if he and the defense can maintain that pace against elite offenses such as the ones on the Canadian, American and Russian teams.
But first, Sweden has to get past the surprise team of the men's tournament, Slovenia. Kevin Allen of USA Today outlined the unexpected success of the Slovenians, who blanked Austria 4-0 on Tuesday to punch their ticket to the quarterfinals:
"Ranked 18th in the world, the Slovenians now will play Sweden in the quarterfinals on Wednesday. Sweden has been upset in the quarterfinals twice in the last three Olympics: by Belarus in 2002 and by Slovakia in 2010.
"We would have been happy with one point before the start of the tournament," said Slovenia defenseman Sabahudin Kovacevic, who scored in his first game back from a suspension. "But now we are going for the gold medal."
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Slovenia also knocked off Slovakia 3-1 in the group stage but suffered big losses to the United States (5-1) and Russia (5-2).
(4) Finland vs. (5) Russia
Team Russia has made things interesting during the men's tournament so far, as this marquee unit needed to play in a qualification game after failing to reach the quarterfinals out of the group stages.
But on Tuesday, the Russians beat Norway 4-0, with two goals coming in the final 67 seconds, to set them up with an intriguing matchup against Finland. Greg Beacham of the Associated Press described the action from Sochi:
"Radulov had two goals and an assist, and Russia survived its first elimination game in Sochi with a 4-0 victory Tuesday over Norway in the qualification round.
Sergei Bobrovsky made 22 saves in the second straight shutout victory for the fifth-seeded Russians, who earned a meeting with Finland in the quarterfinals Wednesday.
"It is do-or-die games right now," said Alex Ovechkin, who hasn't scored a goal in three games. "We don't have much time to prepare ... but I'm pretty sure everybody on Finland is going to be ready, and we're going to be ready as well."
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Finland's Tuukka Rask has been hit-or-miss so far in the Olympics, as he has allowed six goals on 47 shots (87.23 save percentage), but he has still shown flashes of his immense talent. With a talented Russian attack that features Ovechkin, Evgeni Malkin and Pavel Datsyuk, the good Rask better show up for Finland on Wednesday.
(3) Canada vs. (11) Latvia
Latvia enters the quarterfinals as the underdog of the remaining teams after upsetting No. 6 seed Switzerland 3-1 in a Tuesday playoff match.
The Latvians were outscored 10-5 and went 0-3 during the group stage but rebounded against Switzerland with their best performance of the tournament. It marked the first Olympic hockey victory for the nation since the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, per Beacham:
"Oskars Bartulis and Lauris Darzins scored in the first period, and Latvia reached the Olympic men's hockey quarterfinals for the first time with a 3-1 victory over Switzerland on Tuesday night.
Edgars Masalskis made 32 saves and Darzins added an empty-net goal in the Latvians' first Olympic victory since 2002, when they returned to the games after a 66-year absence. After the clock ran out on an impressive victory over a rising Swiss team, the Latvians gathered around Masalskis for a joyous group hug.
"It's just awesome to do this for all of the great veteran players that we have," said Buffalo's Zemgus Girgensons, Latvia's only active NHL player. "No one has done it before, so it's unbelievable to be in the quarterfinals and beat the Swiss."
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But the Cinderella story for the Latvians figures to end in the quarterfinals, as they are set to face a powerhouse Canadian squad that outscored its opponents 11-2 in three group-stage victories.
Most importantly, Team Canada has received some solid goaltending from Carey Price and Roberto Luongo after questions swirled about them heading into the Olympics. On Tuesday, Team Canada announced Price would be getting the start against Latvia.
The team doesn't seem too concerned about Sidney Crosby's three-game goal drought to start the tournament, especially with the amount of firepower it has.
(2) United States vs. (7) Czech Republic
The high-powered American squad looks poised to make a deep run in this tournament after going 3-0 in the group stages, highlighted by T.J. Oshie's four-goal performance for the ages in a 3-2 shootout victory over Russia. The U.S. also handled Slovakia (7-1) and Slovenia (5-1) to build a plus-11 goal differential, the highest of any team to this point in the Olympics.
The Americans have two solid goalie options in Jonathan Quick and Ryan Miller, and Quick earned the starting nod from coach Dan Bylsma on Tuesday.
"Guys are playing great in our own end and competing in front of the net when there are rebounds," Quick told Larry Lage of the Associated Press.
A day after giving up three goals on 32 shots in a 5-3 win against Slovakia, Czech goalie Ondrej Pavelec will be under a microscope, per James Mirtle of The Globe and Mail:
Pavelec's main concern figures to be white-hot Phil Kessel, who scored a hat trick in Team USA's latest four-goal win over Slovenia.
"He's a guy who has grown on the ice and he has shown he can handle the big-time situations," USA center David Backes told Kevin Allen of USA Today. "He is out there making plays all of the time. He's got composure. He doesn't get rattled when someone is in his face. That growth is great for our team."
Team USA hasn't won a gold medal in hockey since the "Miracle on Ice" team of 1980, but the squad definitely has the talent to pull off the deed again in Sochi.
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