Switzerland eliminates Italy, will face Finland in Olympic quarterfinals

Nico Hischier had a goal and two assists to help Team Switzerland advance to the quarterfinals of the men's hockey tournament at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 with a 3-0 win against Team Italy at Rho Arena on Tuesday.

Philipp Kurashev and Roman Josi scored for Switzerland, and Leonardo Genoni made 20 saves for his second shutout in three starts at these Olympics. He has allowed three goals in three games. Timo Meier had two assists.

"Feels good. It's great to contribute to help my team win," Hischier said. "Finally, one went in, but the other games I feel had a lot of chances, but we scored there, too, so I didn't need it there. So, we won the games. ... I'm all in for the team and put my personal things aside."

Switzerland, which finished as the No. 5 seed after preliminary round play and just missed out on a bye to the quarters, will play Team Finland on Wednesday (12:10 p.m. ET; Peacock, ICI Télé, CBC Gem, SN). The two-time defending silver medalists at the past two IIHF World Championships are seeking to win an Olympic medal in men's hockey for the first time since earning bronze at the 1948 St. Moritz Games.

"I think they're overall very disciplined," Hischier said of Finland. "Smart hockey team, and it's not going to be easy, but I'm confident in our group, and we're a good team too"

Damian Clara made 48 saves for Italy, which lost all four of its games and hasn't won at the Olympics since Nagano in 1998.

GAMECENTER SUMMARY: Italy-Switzerland

"We've been battling hard for a couple of weeks now, and we laid it all out the best we could," Italy forward Alexander Petan told the IIHF website. "We had a couple chances to maybe make the game a little more interesting midway through, but it didn't go in for us. But I'm still pretty proud of our group today and all the best to Switzerland."

Kurashev gave Switzerland a 1-0 lead at 1:19 of the first period, scoring off a rebound from the right circle.

Josi scored a power-play goal for a 2-0 lead at 10:25 of the first from just outside the left circle, with Hischier getting his second assist on the play.

"I think it was good to play the afternoon game," Josi said. "It gives you a little more time to rest tonight and into tomorrow, and hopefully get some good sleep, so we'll be ready."

Hischier increased the lead to 3-0 with a power-play goal at 5:53 of the second with a one-timer from in close that went over Clara's blocker.

"If you play well, you're going to get your goals and all that stuff," said Meier, Hischier's teammate with the New Jersey Devils. "He's a team-first kind of guy and if he plays the way he's been playing we're never worried about him not contributing."

Switzerland outshot Italy 18-2 in the first period but only led 2-0, in large part to Clara.

WATCH: Men's Hockey Highlights from the Olympic Winter Games

"[Clara] played unbelievable. That's a fact, for sure," Hischier said. "Tomorrow will be another great goalie and I think what we could have done a little better today, I think, is have a little bit more bodies in front of the net so we screen the goalie a little more. But at the end of the day, we made some great plays, he made some great saves. That's hockey."

That goalie is likely Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators, who happens to be teammates with Josi, the Swiss captain.

"Well, I mean, we'll definitely do a little pre-scout," Josi said. "And obviously, I know him. I know him really well. Obviously, very lucky to have him in Nashville but tomorrow we're opponents, so I'll definitely try to share some of my insights."

Switzerland and Finland have only played once in an Olympics involving NHL players. The Finns won 5-0 in the round-robin portion of the 2006 Torino Games.

"If you look at that track record, I think that they are [the favorite]," Josi said. "I mean, they have an amazing team, they got some amazing players and like I said, they always play well as a team in in the world championships and Olympics. We're confident we're going to play our best, but (we'll) see what happens"

It will be the fifth game in seven days for the Swiss.

"I think overall, we're going to look at team Finland," Meier said. "We're going to prepare for them. Quick turnaround, so quick recovery, but I think we're really excited to have this opportunity to play team Finland for an awesome game tomorrow."

Finland won two of its three preliminary round games and outscored opponents 15-1 in its final two.

"They have a good team. We have a good team," Swiss defenseman J.J. Moser said. "It's going to be a fun game. I think it's going to be a tight game, high-paced game, both fast and skilled teams."

NOTES: Meier has six points (three goals, three assists) in the Olympics. He tied Jean-Jacques Aeschlimann (2002 Salt Lake City) for the most by a Swiss player in a single Olympics with NHL participation. … Hischier tied Roman Wick (Feb. 20, 2010, Vancouver) for the most points in a game by a Switzerland player in an Olympics involving NHL players. … Genoni became the second Swiss goalie to have multiple shutouts at the Olympics involving NHL players, joining Jonas Hiller at the 2014 Sochi Games.

NHL.com international director of editorial Eric Marin contributed to this report