2026 Olympic quarterfinal round discussed by NHL.com writers

And then there were eight.

The Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 men’s hockey tournament has hit the quarterfinal round, with four games on Wednesday.

A trip to the medal round is at stake in each game.

The semifinals will be Friday, the bronze medal game on Saturday and the gold medal game on Sunday.

Team Canada, Team USA, Team Slovakia and Team Finland, which each received byes into the quarterfinals, will be back on the ice for the first time since last weekend.

All four games should be epic. Here, the four NHL.com writers covering the Olympics in Milan give their thoughts on which game they are looking forward to watching and why:

(3) Slovakia vs. (6) Germany, 6:10 a.m. (Peacock, ICI TOU.TV, CBC Gem, SN, RDS) -- Santagiulia Arena

Slovakia was the biggest surprise of the preliminary round, winning a stacked Group B that included powerhouses Finland and Sweden. What won them the group was a goal with 39 seconds left against Sweden in 5-3 loss. That goal gave them the goal-differential tiebreaker and the bye into this round. Well, there are no more byes and no more rewards for goal differential in a loss. It’s win or go home, and Slovakia has looked strong, led by Montreal Canadiens forward Juraj Slafkovsky. He is an absolute powerhouse and is so fun to watch. But so is Germany, which put NHL stars Leon Draisaitl, Tim Stutzle and JJ Peterka on the same line at times in its 5-1 win against France on Tuesday. Germany is coming in on a winning note while Slovakia is coming into this game off a loss and two days off. This is going to be a classic and I can’t wait. – Bill Price, Editor-in-Chief

(1) Canada vs. (8) Czechia (10:40 a.m. ET; Peacock, USA, ICI Tele, CBC Gem, CBC, TSN) -- Santaguilia Arena

Martin Necas was having fun after Team Czechia’s 3-2 win in the qualification round Tuesday when he said, “We let them win the first one because we knew we were not going to win two in a row against Canada.” Canada won 5-0 against Czechia in the first game of the preliminary round for both teams. Necas, Czechia’s best player in the tournament with seven points (three goals, four assists), knows how good the Canadians are. He knows the Czechs are massive underdogs. David Pastrnak knows it all too, but he was being serious when he was talking about the matchup and said, “It might be the best team ever so maybe we have to put the respect aside a little bit and try to take their game to them.” Pastrnak’s teammates better listen, because the more they respect Canada the worse their chances are of winning. The Canadians will run roughshod if the Czechs back off and try to play defensive. Canada is too good, skilled, fast and deep for Czechia to play any other style but aggressive. There’s risk. It could backfire. But it could keep Czechia in the game. It could put the Canadians on their heels. It could create chaos. Every game Canada plays now is filled with pressure because winning gold is all that matters. Czechia has no pressure. So, we’ll be watching to see if it heeds Pastrnak’s words. – Dan Rosen, senior writer

(4) Finland vs. (5) Switzerland (12:10 p.m. ET; Peacock, ICI Tele, CBC Gem, SN) -- Rho Arena

Who doesn’t like watching teams punch above their weight? I love it; I think it’s the best part of each Olympic tournament. Few do it better than Team Finland, which consistently medals despite being one of the smaller countries in this tournament. Team Switzerland is working its way into that niche as well. They have added to the quality of their team year after year and have some bold-faced NHL stars in their lineup. They also have back-to-back silver medals in the past two World Championships. Finland is the defending Olympics champion (without NHL player involvement) and won bronze in 2014, the last time NHL players were in the Olympics. Each deserves to be in the semis, but only one can advance. The competition will be fierce, it will be skilled and it will be emotional. The crowd at Rho Arena is right on top of the ice and will be passionate and further drag the teams into the fight. This has the makings of an instant classic. Don’t miss it. – Shawn P. Roarke, senior director of editorial

(2) United States vs. (7) Sweden (3:10 p.m. ET; Peacock, NBC, ICI Télé, CBC Gem, SN) -- Santaguilia Arena

When Team USA faces Team Sweden, it will be much different than it was in the 4 Nations Face-Off last season. The United States lost to Sweden 2-1 at TD Garden in Boston on Feb. 17, 2025. The Americans already had made the championship game and were preparing for it. They rested goalie Connor Hellebuyck, defenseman Charlie McAvoy, and forwards Auston Matthews and Matthew Tkachuk. Forward Brady Tkachuk left with an injury as a precaution. Three days later, the United States lost to Canada 3-2 in overtime in the championship game at TD Garden. This time, Team USA is at full strength and will put everything into defeating Team Sweden in the quarterfinals. “I think about the 4 Nations a lot,” U.S. forward Dylan Larkin said Tuesday. “The Sweden game, we were sick, and the Canada game, we were banged up. It’s good that everyone’s feeling good going into the quarters.” So much is on the line for the Americans. A loss would be a huge disappointment for a team that considers itself capable of gold. A win would put the U.S. in the semifinals, one win from a potential rematch with Canada in the gold medal game. -- Nicholas J. Cotsonika, columnist