Well folks, the fun part is over. From here on out, it’s win or go home at the Olympics. Sunday night, Team USA closed out the preliminary round with a 5-1 victory over Germany. The win helped them to the second seed with Canada taking the number one position. Now that the round is over let’s check out the updated Tampa Bay Lightning standings (now with Erik Cernak!)
| Player | Games | Goals | Assists | Wins | WALT* |
| J.J. Moser | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Victor Hedman | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| Zemgus Girgensons | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| Wojciech Stachowiak | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Jake Guentzel | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Brandon Hagel | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Pontus Holmberg | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| Oliver Bjorkstrand | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Erik Cernak | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
A fairly solid showing for all of the Bolts in the tournament with J.J. Moser and Zemgus Girgensons leading the way in terms of points on the ice. Jake Guentzel has the locker room bragging rights as he defeated all three teammates he went up against.
The U.S., Canada, Slovakia, and Finland will have an extra day off as they have byes into the quarterfinal. The rest of the teams will have today off and then get right back into it. The match-ups are as follows:
Tuesday February 17:
6:10 AM – Germany vs. France – Winner to face Slovakia
6:10 AM – Switzerland vs. Italy – Winner to face Finland
10:40 AM – Czechia vs. Denmark – Winner to face Canada
15:10 – Sweden vs. Latvia – Winner to face United States
Oddly enough, there is an argument to be made that the top two seeds (Canada and the US) could have the toughest quarter-final match-ups if Czechia and Sweden take care of business in their games on Tuesday.
Other Hockey News
USA vs Sweden Preview [The Ice Garden]
Speaking of the US matching-up against Sweden, over on the Women’s side of the tournament, the semi-finals kick off with those two teams going at it. Canada vs. Switzerland is the other game. Check out The Ice Garden for complete coverage of both matches.
Kevin Fiala out for the season [Los Angeles Times]
The first NHL-altering injury of the tournament involved Kevin Fiala. It appears the hit he took from Tom Wilson along the boards fractured his leg and the team reported that he had successful surgery, but it will end his season. A tough blow for Fiala, and the Kings, who had added Artemi Panarin just prior to the break.
Tom Wilson will not be suspended for Olympic fight [TSN]
It’s been an adventurous tournament for Tom Wilson. First the hit on Fiala, then he pulled off the rare Olympic Gordie Howe hat trick as he had a goal, assist, and fight in Canada’s win over France. While the Olympics frown heavily on fighting as it goes against their very nature, Wilson and France’s Pierre Crinon won’t face supplemental discipline.
Cooper stays true to himself in pressure-filled Olympic duty [Tampa Bay Times]
Coop is going to Coop. There may be no better coach to handle the team with the highest expectations at the Olympics.
Inside the goalie fight that changed the outdoor game [The Athletic]
Nikita Kucherov – “I knew he was going to beat the wheels off Swayman right away. We call (Vasilevskiy) ‘Tyson’ now.” That’s all you really need from the article.
Backchecking the Bolts – Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts
Justin and Jason are back to talk about the Olympics, Jon Cooper’s odds at a Jack Adams, and traveling to Winnipeg!
