RALEIGH, N.C. - After helping their countries earn victories in the semifinal round on Friday, Seth Jarvis (CAN) and Jaccob Slavin (USA) will now battle for the ultimate prize.
Set to face-off in the gold-medal game on Sunday morning (8:10 a.m. ET; NBC, Peacock) both have played an important role in their team's success so far.
As a trickle down from Sidney Crosby's injury, Jarvis was moved up in Canada's formation for their 3-2 win over Finland, finding himself on the team's second line with Bo Horvat and Nathan MacKinnon to start the contest. Now playing in four consecutive games, should he draw in again, the fifth one will be the most important, as the Canes' winger and crew try to replicate the end result of last year's 4 Nations Face-Off.
For Canada, it will be their fourth gold-medal game appearance in Olympics featuring NHL players (also 2014, 2010 & 2002), the most among all teams. The last time Canada went to a gold-medal game at any Olympics was also that 2014 appearance.
On the other side, the path to victory was a little smoother for Slavin and the United States over Slovakia.
A +2 in the affair, Slavin was once again a key part of Team USA's penalty kill, which went a flawless four-for-four in the 6-2 triumph. Still perfect in the tournament as a whole, the U.S. has killed off all 14 tries.
