Olympic Hockey Day 7 Preview

by: Staff

Posted: Feb 15, 2018 / 05:05 AM MST

Updated: Feb 15, 2018 / 05:05 AM MST

Throughout the entire 2018 Winter Games, NBC Olympics staff will preview the upcoming slate of hockey games and recap the prior day’s action.

Men’s Tournament

United States vs Slovakia, 10:10 p.m. ET, CNBC | LIVE STREAM

After a devastating defeat against Slovenia in their opening game, Team USA will look to rebound vs. Slovakia. The Americans played with pace for the first two periods but were unable to put together a complete 60-minute effort, surrendering a two-goal lead in the final minutes. However, there was some good news from the first match. Ryan Zapolski played well between the pipes, and the collegiate players did not look outmatched against professionals from overseas.

Slovakia will skate with plenty of confidence after surprising the presumed favorite, OAR, in its opening match.

OAR vs. Slovenia, 2:40 a.m. ET | LIVE STREAM

With former NHL stars Pavel Datsyuk and Ilya Kovalchuk leading the way, many assumed OAR would coast to the medal round. But the first day of the men’s tournament taught us that the field is wide open. OAR will need a better effort up-and-down the line in order to avoid an appalling 0-2 start. Look for head coach Alexei Chistyakov to consider changing goalies with two flourishing future stars as options.

Coming off an impressive come-from-behind victory against the Americans in its first match, Slovenia will look to deliver a demoralizing blow to OAR. With 19 skaters returning from the 2014 Winter Games, Slovenia has the preferred experience to challenge for a medal in PyeongChang.

Finland vs. Norway, 7:10 a.m. ET, USA Network | LIVE STREAM

Eeli Tolvanaen shined for Finland in their opening match against Germany, registering four points in his Olympic debut. Featuring two 2017 NHL-draft picks, Finland has a solid combination of experienced veterans and first time Olympians.

Sweden vs. Germany, 7:10 a.m. ET | LIVE STREAM

Brooks Macek led the way offensively for Germany in its first game against Finland, but the team will need more from the rest of the lineup. Veteran Christian Ehrhoff struggled to keep up with the quick pace of play and will need to improve if his team plans to advance to the deeper stages of the tournament.