Olympic Hockey Day 6 Recap: Germany, Switzerland, Czechia, and Sweden Advance to Quarterfinal

It was another action packed day of Olympic hockey as eight teams played but only four would live to fight another day. The results of today's contests would determine the quarterfinal matchups as USA, Canada, Finland, and Slovakia waited to see who their opponents would be.

Germany vs. France

• The winner of this matchup would advance to meet Slovakia in the quarterfinal.
• Germany was dominating the possession game early and had a huge advantage as France took the first penalty of the game just two and a half minutes in.
• Leon Draisaitl would put his team on the board as a result of a beautiful passing play that began with Tim Stutzle. He found Josh Samanski open in front of the net which allowed for him to set Draisaitl up at the doorstep for a quick shot, 1-0 Germany.
• About 11 minutes in, Germany extended their lead as Frederik Tiffels picked up his first of the Olympics. On a tough angle, Tiffels picked his corner and banked the shot in off the mask of Julian Junca to make it a 2-0 game.
• Germany had a ton of momentum after that second goal but the French held on as best they could. Even after taking a penalty later in the period, the French kept them from extending their lead. Junca in particular had a spectacular save on a partial breakaway from Stutzle.
• With just under two minutes to go, a phenomenal individual effort from J.J. Peter in the slot completely faked out Junca to send a backhander off the post and in, making it a 3-0 game.

• Germany out-shot the French 13-4 after the opening twenty minutes. Junca would be replaced by Antoine Keller in net to start the second period.
• The French got a huge boost early in the second as Pierre-Edouard Bellemare picked up his first of the tournament to get his team on the board, now trailing 3-1. His shot on a weird angle went off a skate in front to find the back of the net.
• That goal gave them some momentum as they doubled their shot total early in the period but that almost fell by the wayside as Germany nearly converted on a rebound with about eight minutes to go in the period that went off the post and was covered by Keller.
• France was maintaining more possession in the offensive zone and really testing Phillip Grubauer.
• They kept the Germans to a two goal lead after forty minutes of play as the score was 3-1 in Germany's favor. France was being out-shot 26-13 which was a much better differential than it was after the opening period.

• The French continued to battle through the early parts of the third but about seven minutes in, took a penalty to give the Germans a big power play.
• That would cost France as Josh Samanski converted on a rebound in front that followed a shot from Draisaitl after a back-and-forth with Moritz Seider at the point. This made it a 4-1 game for Germany.
• France would pull the goalie to try and climb back in this one but with less than a minute to go, Nico Sturm collected his first goal of the tournament as he sealed the deal for Germany 5-1. This game was much closer than the score may suggest but the Germans took care of business and advance to the qualifying round as expected.

Switzerland vs. Italy

• The winner between these two countries would advance to play Finland in the quarterfinal.
• Switzerland got off to an early start as it took them just 79 seconds to find the back of the net. It was Philipp Kurashev capitalizing on a Nico Hischier rebound to give his country the 1-0 lead.
• The Swiss were certainly in control of this one as they were out-shooting the Italians 8-0 through the first half of the opening period.
• Nearing the midway mark of the first, Italy took the first penalty of the game which gave Switzerland even more of an advantage than they already had. It wasn't long before Roman Josi capitalized on a shot through traffic from the point, making it a 2-0 game.

• Italy finally registered their first shot on goal shortly after and caught a bit of a break as Switzerland was called for their first penalty of the game. J.J. Moser was sent off for a cross-check in front of the net.
• Despite the man advantage, the Swiss were incredibly aggressive on the penalty kill and continued their dominance.
• Damian Clara continued his impressive Olympic run as he faced a total of 17 shots throughout the period, only allowing two. Without him, this one could have been much uglier as the Italians only had two shots on goal after twenty minutes.
• The Italians got an early power play in the second as Nashville Predators prospects Simon Knak was sent off for cross-checking. However, Italy would be without one of their top players in Matt Bradley who was shaken up as a result of a hit earlier in the first. While he finished the first, he wouldn't return to start the second.
• Nearing the midway mark of the second, Switzerland headed back to the power play as Gregory Di Tomasa was called for slashing. While the Swiss had a number of chances, Italy kept them off the board and continued to hang around.
• Damian Clara continued his brilliance, making a remarkable save on a 3-on-1 that followed an off the rush chance for the Italians at the other end of the ice.
• With just over two minutes to go, the Italians were called for another power play which gave the Swiss a power play for the remainder of the period.They would weather the storm and kept Switzerland off the board as they trailed 2-0 heading into the second intermission. Shots after two periods of hockey were 32-12 in Switzerland's favor.
• About six minutes into the third, the Italians took another penalty. Switzerland utilized their timeout which proved to be the right decision as it took them just five seconds to convert. Nico Hischier was set up nicely by Timo Meier in front of the net as he fired a one timer past Clara who didn't stand a chance. 3-0 Switzerland.

• 3-0 would be the final for Switzerland as they will advance to the quarterfinals after out-shooting Italy 51-20.
• It was a tough tournament for the home country but they don't have much to hang their heads about. While they got blown out by the Finns, they managed to give Sweden, Slovakia and now Switzerland a run for their money. Scoring the first goal in their opening game of the tournament was a win in itself and what a story Damian Clara became. Hats off to him.

Czechia vs. Denmark

• A spot in the quarterfinals was up for grabs as the winner would take on the heavy favorites in Team Canada.
• Overall, this was surprisingly the least exciting of the three earlier games today, at least to start. Czechia had a decent period, the Danes skated with them enough but there wasn't a ton of action through this opening period.
• About seven and a half minutes in, Jan Rutta took the first penalty of the game to give Denmark the man advantage. Czechia did a good job of holding off Denmark's power play and even generated some shorthanded looks but the score remained locked at zero.
• With just over two minutes to go in the first, Martin Necas was tripped up on a break to the net which gave Czechia their first power play of the night.
• Czechia wouldn't generate a shot on goal let alone much else on the man advantage as the teams would remain tied at zero heading into the first intermission.
• The Czechs had some looks early in the second and about four minutes in, were sent back to the power play. Lars Eller got the stick up high on Tomas Hertl to create the advantage.
• Czechia was finally able to convert this time around as Filip Hronek set up Martin Necas for a one timer that sailed right past Frederik Anderson to make it a 1-0 game. The goal came as Necas' third of the Olympics.

• This one took an interesting turn as just a couple of minutes later, Denmark tied the game up at one. A beautiful give and go that started and ended with Alexander True made this a 1-1 game approaching the midway mark of the outing.
• About a minute later, Czechia responded. A shot from Jan Rutta off an offensive zone face-off win deflected off David Kampf in front of the net to give Czechia a 2-1 lead.
• It wasn't long before the Czechs added to that lead. A minute after Camp's gaol, David Pastrnak sent team captain Roman Cervenka on a break that resulted in him firing a wrist shot past Anderson to make it a 3-1 game. Cervenka's second of the tournament in his fifth Olympics games.

• Nearing the end of the second, Nikolaj Ehlers was tripped up by Hertl which gave the Danes another power play. Ehlers was quite shaken up but toughed it out to lead the charge on the Danish power play.
• The Danes would bring themselves within one as Nick Olesen did a tremendous job of bringing the puck from his forehand, to the front of the net where he roofed a shot over the shoulder of Lukas Dostal. That came as Olesen's fourth of these Olympics.
• Oliver Bjorkstrand had as good a chance as you can get to tie the game up before intermission as he was shut down on a breakaway by Dostal. Great move, better save.
• Shots at the end of two were 26-14 in Czechia's favor after 40 minutes.
• Anderson made some big saves for the Danes early in the third to keep them alive and closer to the midway point of the third, Denmark got a power play. Dostal came up big for Czechia making five saves on the Danes' man advantage.
• Denmark would get another power play with roughly eight minutes to go in the game but again, could not manage to convert.
• With 100 seconds to go in the game, Denmark pulled Anderson for the extra attacker. While they made a strong push in the final minute and a half, Czechia held them off and will advance to the quarterfinal round.

Sweden vs. Latvia

• The final meeting of the qualifying round, the winner of Sweden-Latvia would punch their ticket to the quarterfinal to take on Team USA.
• Sweden made a couple of questionable lineup choices, sitting defenseman Rasmus Andersson and forward Jesper Bratt. Filip Gustavsson would join them as a healthy scratch with Jacob Markstrom getting the start and Jesper Wallstedt backing up.
• It was a slow start for the Swedes as they didn't have a shot on goal through the first minutes but they quickly evened out in that regard closer to the midway mark of the opening period.
• With just over nine minutes to go, Adrian Kempe got the Swedes on the board. A Latvian turnover resulted in a shot from the point which took a redirect off Kempe in front to make it a 1-0 game.

• Less than a minute later, Sweden made it a 2-0 game as the captain, Gabriel Landeskog, picked up a rebound in the slot to extend his country's lead. Mika Zibanejad picked up the secondary assist on the play.
• Things slowed down a bit there and with three minutes to go in the period, Sweden took the first penalty of the game as Gus Forsling sent the puck over the glass for a delay of game.
• Latvia not only failed to convert on the man advantage, but would take a penalty of their own in the final minutes of the period as Alberts Smits was called for interference.
• While that penalty wouldn't cost Latvia, they still trailed by a pair heading into the first intermission and came out of it still struggling to keep up with the Swedes.
• Nearing the midway mark of the second, Erik Karlsson pulled the puck beautifully at the point and fed Filip Forsberg who was open at the door step to tap the puck home, making it a 3-0 game.

• Three minutes later, the Latvians answered and found a way to get on the scoreboard. A good puck battle win for Teddy Blueger moved the puck to Smits at the point. The quick shot was stopped by Markstrom but Eduards Tralmaks was right there for the rebound. 3-1 hockey game.
• That gave Latvia some momentum which continued in the final four minutes of the period when Victor Hedman was sent off for cross-checking. With Latvia on the power play, Markstrom would be tested but would keep them off the board.
• After forty minutes, Sweden was up 3-1 and out-shooting Latvia 19-14.
• Latvia came out with some push but the Swedes appeared to be in control. After six minutes of play in the third period, Mika Zibanejad finished on another pretty passing play as Lucas Raymond set him up for a one timer in his usual spot. 4-1 Sweden.
• Latvia got another power play soon after as Elias Lindholm was sent off for tripping. The man advantage did more harm than good as the Swedes picked up a pair of shorthanded chances, one of which regarded a flashy glove save from Elvis Merzlikins.
• As the period went on, it felt as though the Swedes were just looking to put a bow on this one and move on to the quarterfinal. Latvia didn't do themselves any favors by taking a penalty with just over eight minutes to go.
• Just as the teams were returning to even strength, William Nylander buried one at the doorstep off a generous pass from Raymond to make it 5-1.
• That would act as the nail in coffin as the Latvians battled hard but couldn't work their way back into this one.

This will set the stage for what should be another remarkable day of hockey in the quarterfinal round tomorrow.