Semifinals
9 AM ET: Sweden vs Finland
Finland is looking to continue their momentum after a thrilling 6-5 quarterfinal win against Canada. They are looking to become the third straight host to reach the Gold Medal game and eighth straight host to medal. They are led by their undrafted stars, Jesse Puljujärvi and Patrick Laine along on their first line with Sebastian Aho.
After coming in relief to get the win against Canada, I would expect Kaapo Kähkönen to get the start. For Sweden, they have marched undefeated without their biggest star William Nylander who is now out for the tournament. His brother Alexander has picked up some of the slack and goaltender Linus Söderström has been the tournament’s best goaltender to date. The game will be shown on TSN 1/3/4/5 and RDS in Canada. You can stream the game via TSN GO. In the United States, the NHL Network will have the game.
1 PM ET: USA vs Russia
There may be no Canada, but these two matchups could not have been more intriguing. Russia had a scare in their quarterfinal against Denmark and needed a tying goal in the last minute of regulation and overtime to survive. The defending silver medalists will need to find their game against a very tough American team.
Allowing four goals to Denmark does not strike much confidence, but the Russians have mixed the good with the bad in this tournament. Like the Finns, the Americans are led by an undrafted player in Auston Matthews. They dominated the Czechs in the quarterfinal and need to be favoured to win this game. The game will be on TSN 1/3/4/5 and RDS in Canada. You can stream the game via TSN GO NHL Network in the US will show the game.
