With the round-robin complete, every game from here on out is do-or-die. With Canada, the United States, Slovakia and Finland all advancing to the quarterfinals, they had to await the results of today’s qualification playoff games to see who they would match up against for a chance to advance to the semifinals. With four games on the schedule, here’s how it went.

This first playoff matchup between Germany and France, though fairly even in shot totals at 36-31 in favour of the Germans, was more of a one-sided affair.

It only took Leon Draisaitl just under four minutes to put Germany up by one. They took advantage of an early power play and Draisaitl cashed in from his usual spot just below the face-off circle. Germany would add two more goals in the first frame, with Frederik Tiffels and JJ Peterka each getting on the scoresheet to make it 3-0 after one period of play.

The lone goal of the second period belonged to French captain Pierre-Édouard Bellemare. It was a power-play marker for France that saw Bellemare throw the puck to the crease from the corner, where it took a strange deflection and ended up in the back of the net.

Germany wasn’t going to allow France to feel like they had a chance in the third. Joshua Samanski added an insurance marker to make it 4-1. Still, France threw everything they had at Germany. Even though they were down by three, they pulled the goalie in an attempt to mount some sort of comeback. Nico Sturm put a puck into the empty net to officially seal the deal as Germany won 5-1.

France sees an end to its Olympic tournament, while Germany will go on to face Slovakia in the quarterfinals.

It was another one-sided affair in this qualification playoff match-up.

Philipp Kurashev got Switzerland on the board early. The Swiss had early pressure in the Italian zone and Kurashev was left all alone at the side of the net, where he buried the puck to make it 1-0.

Switzerland would add a second goal halfway through the period with a power-play marker from Roman Josi. The Swiss would head into the first intermission with a comfortable 2-0 lead.

After a scoreless second frame, we jump ahead to the third period where Nico Hischier added an insurance goal on an early power play to make it 3-0, which would stand as the final.

Italy, with the exception of one game, should be proud of the tournament it put together. The Italians were heavily outmatched in each game but still found ways to compete and stick around until the end. Goaltender Damien Clara was excellent, making 48 saves to keep Switzerland to just three goals.

In the other crease, Leonardo Genoni picked up his second shutout of the Games. With the win, Switzerland advances to the quarterfinals where it will match up against Finland.

In what was probably the most evenly matched playoff match-up of the day, this game was always going to be a battle.

All of the scoring in this game came in the second period. Martin Nečas got it started with a power-play marker, one-timing a puck from the top of the faceoff circle past Denmark’s Frederik Andersen.

Denmark would get the equalizer on a nice give-and-go passing play by the Danes, with Alexander True tapping in the tying goal.

The next two goals belonged to Czechia. First, Jan Rutta threaded the needle to find David Kämpf in front for a deflection. A few minutes later, Czech captain Roman Červenka rushed into the Danish zone and rifled one past Andersen to make it 3-1.

Before the period was over, Denmark got a power play. On the man advantage, Nick Olesen received the puck at the side of the net, made a nice inside spin move to get it around the Czech goalie and buried it to bring Denmark back within one.

Denmark pressed for the equalizer in the third period and had its opportunities. The Danes failed to score on two early power plays while Czech goaltender Lukáš Dostál made numerous big saves to keep the lead at one.

As the period wound down with the Danish extra attacker on the ice, they sustained pressure in the offensive zone but again couldn’t get anything past Dostál. With one more chance possible, the puck skipped over Nikolaj Ehlers’s stick and over the blue line to seal Denmark’s fate and end its tournament.

With the win, Czechia will get an opening-game rematch against Canada.

Sweden hasn’t looked as good as it probably could have all tournament. Italy made it work for a win, then it lost to Finland before having to grind out another victory over Slovakia. In this match-up against Latvia, Sweden needed to get it together if it wanted to win and earn a shot against the United States.

Latvia has been a tough opponent in every game so far. The first half of the period was competitive and the splits were relatively even before Sweden began to generate some chances and got on the scoreboard a couple of times. First, a shot from Joel Eriksson Ek deflected off the skate of Adrian Kempe and into the net to make it 1-0. Then, after a battle in front, Gabriel Landeskog took control of the loose puck and scored to extend the lead to two.

Sweden continued applying the pressure in the second frame. A nice pass from Erik Karlsson found Filip Forsberg, who redirected it into the net to make it 3-0.

With the ice heavily tilted in Sweden’s direction, Latvia pushed back. Jacob Markström made an initial save on a point shot from Alberts Smits but could not retain the rebound and Eduards Tralmaks cashed in for his third goal of the tournament.

Those hopes of a comeback were erased early in the third period as Mika Zibanejad made it 4-1 before William Nylander added another to make it 5-1.

This marks the end of Latvia’s time at the Olympics. They should be proud of the tournament they put together, re-establishing itself as a tough country to play against.

With Sweden’s victory, it will now play the United States in the quarterfinals, meaning one of those two hockey powerhouses will not be playing for a medal at these Olympics.

🇸🇰 Slovakia vs 🇩🇪 Germany
🇨🇦 Canada vs 🇨🇿 Czechia
🇫🇮 Finland vs 🇨🇭 Switzerland
🇺🇸 United States vs 🇸🇪 Sweden

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