Olympic Men’s Hockey Day 5: Battle For The Bottom Of The Group

Saturday’s men’s Olympic hockey schedule features three matchups with teams that are at the bottom of their respective groups. Here are the games and the updated standings

3 PM ET/ Noon PT: Norway vs. Switzerland in Group A action.

Live coverage starts after Curling on MSNBC and from the puck drop at nbcolympics.com

Coming off their overtime loss to Canada, Switzerland is trying to move their way up the standings with their final game against Norway.

The key to this game as with every other game that Switzerland is in is the play of goaltender Jonas Hiller. Hiller was unstoppable against the Canadians and made his fair share of saves that kept the Swiss in the game. Hiller has a .916 SV% and 2.88 GAA in two games and will most likely be in net for the Swiss against Norway.

Norway has had a hard time competing in these Olympics with a goal differential of -13 in two games. Leading scorer is Marius Holtet with one goal. Pal Grotnes has been the better of the two goaltenders for Norway with a .859 SV% and 5.74 GAA compared to the .600 SV% and 15.47 GAA goaltender Andre Lysenstoen has during the tournament.

7:30 PM ET/4:30 PM PT: Slovakia vs. Latvia in Group B action.

Live coverage starts at 7:30 PM ET/4:30 PM PT on MSNBC and nbcolympics.com

Slovakia has had the first and only upset in these Olympic games with their 2-1 shootout win over Russia on Thursday. Pavol Demitra scored the winning goal in the seventh round of the shootout on goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov. Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jaroslav Halak has been the starting goaltender for Slovakia in their first two games stopping 57 of the 61 shots that he has faced in those games. Marian Hossa and Marian Gaborik have started the first two games after injuries threatened them being sidelined. Pavol Demitra has been the leading scorer at this point with three points (one goal and two assists).

Latvia has struggled as well in this tournament with a goal differential of -9 and have looked outmatched against the Czech Republic and Russia. They get their chance to prove that they belong in this tournament against a Slovakian team that has some firepower and looking to move up the Group B standings.

12:00 AM ET/9:00 PM PT: Germany vs. Belarus in Group C action.

Live coverage starts at 12:00 AM ET/9:00 PM ET on MSNBC

Germany has looked very, very challenged in these games with their biggest struggle coming against Finland on Friday. Finland took advantage of the six powerplays that Germany served up and subsequently beat Germany 5-0. Goaltender Thomas Greiss should get the start as Dimitri Patzold played last night. The Germans need to find the scoresheet though, as they have been shutout in both games that they have played thus far in the tournament.

The Belarussians have given up the third most goals in this tournament with nine goals in two games. Goaltender Andrei Mezin played against Sweden Friday night so expect Vitali Koval in for Belarus. Koval gave up five goals against Finland.

The winner of this game will most likely be ranked ninth and have the advantage of facing the eighth ranked team in the tournament as compared to trying to face an fifth or sixth ranked team like Switzerland.