Olympic Men’s Hockey Day 6: USA vs. Canada Headlines Super Sunday

If you’re a hockey fan, today is the day to sit in front of the television and just take in some of the best hockey in the tournament today.

3 PM ET/Noon PT - Czech Republic vs. Russia

Live Coverage on NBC and NBCOlympics.com starting at 3:00 PM ET/Noon PT

The high flying Czech Republic have taken care of their first two games in Group B at this point and can complete the sweep of the group with a win over Russia. Tomas Vokoun has been the starting goaltender for both games for the Czech Republic and has been very solid with a .9434 SV% and 1.50 GAA while facing 53 shots. The Czech’s have spread the scoring around with three players all tied at two goals a piece, Tomas Plekanec, Patrik Elias, and Jaromir Jagr.

The Russians have found themselves in a bit of a hole after losing to Slovakia. They are currently third in Group B with four points looking up at Slovakia who beat Latvia on Saturday. Ilya Bryzgalov was the goaltender behind the loss to Slovakia and will being watching this game from the bench as Evgeni Nabokov will most likely take the net. The once thought high powered Russian offense has found the back of the net nine times, good for a tie for third in the tournament, but their goal differential of +5 might cause some issues when the final sorting comes through.

Quarterfinal Implications: If the Czech Republic wins this game, they will automatically move on to the quarterfinals while Russia will end up being ranked sixth and have to face Germany in the qualification playoffs. If Russia wins, they will move onto the quarterfinals while the Czech Republic will end up in the quarterfinals as well with both United States and Finland winning and in the qualification playoffs with one of them losing.

7:30 PM ET/4:30 PM PT - Canada vs. United States

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

This game has been the highly anticipated matchup throughout the entire Olympics. With two rosters that are completely stocked with NHL talent, these two teams very well may put on the game of the tournament thus far. The Canadians are coming off their overtime win against Switzerland and has the second best goal differential with +9 thanks to their 8-0 win over Norway. Martin Brodeur will start in net for Canada as he is riding his momentum from Canada’s win against Switzerland.

The United States have won their first two games of the tournament against Switzerland and Norway essentially riding the back of goaltender of Ryan Miller. Miller has a .9231 SV% and 1.00 GAA in two games for the United States and will be back in net again for the US. The United States are not going to wow the crowd with their proficient goal scoring as they only have nine goals in two games, but they are one of the more proficient defenses with a +7 goal differential.

Quarterfinal Implications: If the Canada wins, they will move onto the quarterfinals and the United States would move onto the quarterfinals with a Finland win. If the United States wins, they automatically move onto the quarterfinals while Canada would be relegated to the qualification playoffs.

Midnight ET/9:00 PM PT - Sweden vs. Finland

Live Coverage starts at Midnight ET/9:00 PM PT on MSNBC and NBCOlympics.com

Both Sweden and Finland have taken care of business in Group C, with both teams winning both of their games against Belarus and Germany.

The Finnish team has sailed through this tournament at this point, beating Germany 5-0 and Belarus 5-1. They have the second most goals in the tournament with 10 behind Canada and the best defense with only one goal allowed. Niklas Backstrom and Mikka Kiprusoff have been stalwarts in this tournament with Backstrom earning the shutout against Germany. Three players have two goals a piece, Niklas Hagman, Jarkko Ruutu, and Kimmo Timonen, while Hagman has four total points in the tournament.

The Swedish team has a decent amount of firepower in their lineup, but only Daniel Alfredsson has more than one goal for Sweden, two goals. Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist earned a shutout against Germany and will be in the net for the Swedes against Finland.

Quarterfinal Implications: If Sweden wins, they will automatically move onto the quarterfinals as well as Finland. If FInland wins, they automatically move onto the quarterfinals while Sweden would move on with both the United States and Czech Republic winning. Otherwise, they would be one of the top teams in the qualification playoffs, most likely facing Germany.