Several Florida Panthers players will be in action Wednesday during the Olympic men’s hockey tournament as at least one will be heading home.
USA vs. Sweden
The U.S. men’s hockey team will play its first elimination game of the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics when it takes on Sweden in the quarterfinals.
The game will have Panthers forward and U.S. alternate captain Matthew Tkachuk facing Florida defenseman Gustav Forsling of Sweden.
Team USA earned a quarterfinal berth by finishing atop Group C with a 3-0 record in the preliminary round. The U.S. defeated Denmark, Germany and Latvia by a combined score of 16-5, with 11 different players lighting the lamp.
Sweden took down No. 10 Latvia 5-1 in a playoff qualifier Tuesday to reach the quarterfinals. The Swedes went 2-1 in the preliminary round, beating Italy and Slovakia but losing 4-1 to Finland.
Sweden defeated the U.S. 2-1 in last year’s NHL 4 Nations Face-Off, although, the Americans had already clinched a spot in tournament’s final.
The quarterfinal starts at 3:10 p.m. ET and airs on NBC6.
The unbeaten USA men’s hockey team secured a spot in the quarterfinals after defeating Germany 5-1.
Canada vs. Czechia
Meanwhile, top-seeded Canada takes on Czechia in their quarterfinal game after they outscored opponents by 17 in the preliminary round.
Panthers forwards Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand are helping lead the Canadians, who are coming off a 10-2 crushing of France.
The game starts at 10:40 a.m. ET.
Ashlyn Sullivan and Jordan Hall break down Macklin Celebrini, 19, scoring his first Olympic goal to help Team Canada defeat Czechia 5–0, becoming the youngest Canadian NHL player to score at the Winter Games.
Finland vs. Switzerland
Bouncing back from its surprising loss to Slovakia, Finland beat archrival Sweden and ran up the score on Italy to clinch the fourth spot and avoid the extra qualification game. The structure that the Finns typically win with internationally took longer than usual to materialize, but now they look like themselves.
It’s the first Olympics for Panthers forwards Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen and defenseman Niko Mikkola, who are helping lead Team Finland.
Switzerland shut out Italy 3-0 to reach the quarterfinals. Finland will be a tougher test.
The game starts at 12:10 p.m. ET.
When the men’s Olympic hockey playoffs began Tuesday, fans quickly noticed a new color on the ice, a change designed not for aesthetics, but to improve puck visibility for players and viewers.