Off To The Medal Round!
The LA Kings will be represented in the medal round by defenseman Drew Doughty and goaltender Darcy Kuemper, as Team Canada skated to an emotional and thrilling 4-3 overtime victory over Team Czechia, cementing their place in Friday's semifinals, guaranteeing Team Canada the opportunity to compete for a medal. Later in the day, LA Kings forward Joel Armia joined that group in the medal round, as Team Finland came from two goals down to defeat Team Switzerland in the quarterfinals, cementing their own place among the final four teams remaining.
Doughty logged 14:18 in the win over Team Czechia, ranking fourth among Canadian blueliners in the game. Doughty was on the ice for forward Macklin Celebrini's game-opening goal in the first period, helping his team advance to the semifinals. Kuemper did not feature in net, as Jordan Binnington of the St. Louis Blues was the starter in goal.
Just a couple of hours later, Armia and Team Finland also advanced to the medal round, via a comeback, 3-2 overtime victory over Team Switzerland. Armia did not find the scoresheet in the win over Team Switzerland but saw an elevated role in the game as Finland came back to win. Armia logged 14:05, the eighth-highest total among Finland forwards, and was on the ice for Sebastian Aho's goal in the third period, which got the Finns on the board.
Lastly, forward Adrian Kempe saw his tournament come to an end with Team Sweden, which dropped a quarterfinal matchup against the United States earlier today by a 2-1 final score in overtime in the final matchup of this round of the tournament. Kempe was one of Sweden's top used forwards and most productive players at the 2026 Winter Olympics, as he collected two goals and two assists in five games played, including the game-opening goal in Sweden's knockout victory over Team Latvia yesterday in Milan.
With the semifinals set, we'll see a Kings vs. Kings matchup with Canada and Finland set to square off. Each higher-seeded team won in the quarterfinals, which means that the top-seeded Team Canada will take on fourth-seeded Team Finland. Today's results mean that the Kings will have at least one player in both the gold and bronze medal games, with the winner of Friday's Canada/Finland matchup advancing to play for gold, while the loser will compete for bronze.
Kings Medal Round Schedule
Canada (Doughty, Kuemper) vs. Finland (Armia) - Friday, 2/20 at 7:40 AM Pacific
Bronze Medal Game - Saturday, 2/21 at 11:40 AM Pacific
Gold Medal Game - Sunday, 2/22 at 5:10 AM Pacific
Unclear what the broadcast schedule is at this time for the final three games, but expect to see the games broadcast on some combination of NBC, USA Network and Peacock. Any game featuring Team USA will be shown on NBC, with other broadcasts still to be determined. Will update this story with
