2026 Milano Cortina Olympics On Tap: Slovakia eyes spot in quarterfinals

The Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 have begun. The men’s hockey tournament, the first with NHL players since the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, will feature all 12 teams playing three preliminary games in their respective groups, then all 12 moving on to a single-elimination playoff that will conclude with the Gold medal game on Feb. 22.

Here is a look at the games on Saturday:

Sweden vs. Slovakia (6:10 a.m. ET; Peacock, ICI TOU.TV, CBC Gem, SN, RDS)

Team Sweden (1-0-1-0) should be primed and ready to go after a defeat at the hands of bitter rival Team Finland on Friday, needing a good result against Team Slovakia to avoid the qualification playoff round on Tuesday to play for a medal. But this game, at Santagiulia Arena on Saturday, also marks a chance for Slovakia (2-0-0-0) to take control of Group B. Slovakia, with six points, were winners of their first two games at the Olympics, against Finland on Wednesday and Team Italy on Friday. A win against Sweden would cement Slovakia as the top team in the group, sending them directly to the quarterfinals. Former NHL player Adam Ruzicka has two goals in two games for Slovakia, including the game-winner on Friday against Italy, and Juraj Slafkovsky has four points (two goals, two assists) in the tournament. Sweden, meanwhile, scored only a single goal against Finnish goalie Juuse Saros on Friday, scored on the power play by Rasmus Dahlin.

Finland vs. Italy (10:40 a.m. ET; Peacock, USA, ICI Télé, CBC Gem, SN, CBC)

Much like for Sweden, this game is huge for Finland (1-0-1-0), which is riding the high of beating Sweden 4-1 on Friday. It is only the second time Finland has beaten Sweden in five meetings at an Olympics with NHL players, and their first win since 1998 in Nagano. Compared to Sweden, though, Finland should have a much easier draw against the winless Italians (0-0-2-0) in their game at Santagiulia Arena. The Italians first fell to Sweden 5-2 on Wednesday, then to Slovakia 3-2 on Friday. Finland is tied with Sweden at three points each, just behind Slovakia’s six in Group B. Saros came up big for the Finns on Friday with 34 saves -- including 17 in the third period -- against the Swedes. Italy could play spoiler, should it take points against Finland, as the teams race to get an assured bid into the quarterfinals. The focal point regarding Italy was goalie Damian Clara, who made 46 saves on 49 shots in his team's loss to Sweden. Clara, who was pulled with an apparent injury in the third period of that game, came on in relief of Davide Fadani (28 saves) two days later against Slovakia.

Germany vs. Latvia (6:10 a.m. ET; Peacock, CNBC, ICI Télé, CBC Gem, TSN)

Team Germany and Team Latvia return to the ice on Saturday at Rho Arena after days off for both teams on Friday. It will be the second game for each, with Germany (1-0-0-0) having won their opener 3-1 against Team Denmark, and Latvia having lost theirs 5-1 against Team USA. Germany was led by Leon Draisaitl (goal, assist) and Tim Stutzle (two goals), with goalie Philipp Grubauer making 37 saves. Latvia (0-0-1-0) held strong in the first period against the Americans on Thursday, going into the second with a 1-1 tie on a goal by Renars Krastenbergs. The game, however, fell apart from there, with the U.S. scoring the final four unanswered goals. Germany, tied with the United States, leads Group C with three points.

USA vs. Denmark (3:10 p.m. ET; Peacock, USA, ICI Télé, CBC Gem, TSN)

Team USA is looking to build off a strong showing in its Olympic opener when it takes on Denmark at Santagiulia Arena on Saturday. The U.S. (1-0-0-0) will look to take sole possession of first place in Group C. In their 5-1 win over Latvia, the Americans got two goals from forward Brock Nelson, who was among four different players to score. Ten Americans have also notched at least a point, with four players (Jack Eichel, Jack Hughes, Quinn Hughes, and Matthew Tkachuk) aside from Nelson having two points each in the game. Team Denmark (0-0-1-0) will be looking for an upset against Team USA, though Denmark coach Mikael Gath said that he will not use goalie Frederik Andersen with less than 24 hours between the game against the U.S. and Denmark's final preliminary round game against Latvia on Sunday. Oscar Fisker Molgaard of the Seattle Kraken scored the lone goal for Denmark in their 3-1 loss to Germany on Thursday.