Team Canada reached the men’s Olympic hockey final earlier today with their 3-2 win over Finland. Now, it is time for Team USA and Team Slovakia to battle it out for the remaining spot.
Slovakia will be relying in large part upon the excellent play of Juraj Slafkovsky (MTL) to advance. Slafkovsky has been an absolute beast in this tournament, racking up 7 points (3G 4A) and using his size and strength to dominate the scoring area. He most likely must add to that point total for Slovakia to reach the final.
Another player looking to increase his point total in this match is Team USA d-man Quinn Hughes (MIN). Hughes has 6 points (1G 5A) in this tournament, sitting 2 points shy of Brian Rafalski’s record of 8 points scored by a d-man in a single Olympics. Like Slafkovsky, Hughes must be very involved in Team USA’s offense for them to advance.