Olympic Women’s Hockey Day 7: The Start Of The Classification Round

With the end of round robin play for the women on Thursday, the classification round starts on Saturday. The classification round is the tournament to seed the teams from fifth to eighth. That being said, the two games on Saturday will determine who will play for fifth and sixth and who plays for seventh and eighth.

5:30 PM ET/2:30 PM PT - Switzerland vs. China

Live Coverage at 5:30 PM ET/2:30 PM PT on NBCOlympics.com

Switzerland comes into the classification as the best women’s team with one win and a goal differential of -9. Their one win was a 5-2 win against Slovakia. Forward Stefanie Marty has been the leading scorer for the Swiss with three goals and four points total. Goaltender Florence Schelling has faced 122 shots in the tournament and has allowed 15 goals.

China has struggled mightily in this tournament with a goal differential of -13, including a 12-1 loss to the United States. They have lost all three games in round robin play and have scored a total of three goals in those games. Throw out the game against the United States though, and the goal differential goes down to -2, only allowing four goals to Finland and Slovakia. Yao Shi has played all three games in goal for the Chinese and will most likely play in this game as well.

10:00 PM ET/7:00 PM PT - Russia vs. Slovakia

Live Coverage at 10:00 PM ET/7:00 PM PT on NBCOlympics.com

The one thing that the Slovakian women’s team has been most remembered for in these games is their 18-0 loss to Canada on the opening day of the Olympics. Since then, the Slovaks have lost their other two games by a combined score of 11-4. Needless to say, if they are going to find a way to upset Russia, they are going to have to find a way to stop the puck.

Russia’s only win in this tournament has come against the Chinese, a 2-1 game. Behind the Slovakians, the Russians have allowed the most goals in 19 and have the second worst goal differential in -16. If the offenses of both of these teams can find the net, it should be a highly entertaining game.

The winners of these two games will face off against each other on Monday for fifth place while the losers will face off for seventh.