USA vs. Russia 2018 live stream: Time, TV channel, and how to watch men’s Olympic hockey online

The USA men’s hockey team wraps up the Olympic group stage with a matchup against Olympic Athletes from Russia at 7:10 a.m. ET Saturday morning. The game will help finalize the seeding of the 12 teams for the playoff round, which begins Tuesday in Pyeongchang.

NBCSN will be broadcasting the game live on television in addition to online streaming coverage.

The Americans currently lead Group B with a 1-0-1-0 record through their first two games. Every team in the group has won a game, but the U.S. has a leg up thanks to the point it received for its overtime loss to Slovenia.

As a result, Brian Gionta and company can clinch the top spot in Group B with a victory over the Russians on Saturday. Doing so would guarantee a bye into the quarterfinals of the playoff stage, which is certainly something the team would like to do.

The only problem is that the Olympic Athletes from Russia team should provide a massive challenge. They were stunned by Slovakia in their first game in Pyeongchang, but rebounded Friday with an 8-2 blowout of Slovenia, the same team that beat the U.S. two days earlier.

Kirill Kaprizov, Ilya Kovalchuk, and Nikita Gusev each recorded three points in the win. Those are the kind of highly skilled players that the Americans don’t have, so they’re going to have to grind away to try to keep the Russians in check. A win would go a long way toward softening their schedule for the remainder of the Olympics.

But a loss also wouldn’t be a backbreaker. Every team in the men’s tournament advances to the playoff stage, so the Americans will have their shot at the gold medal even if they lose Saturday.

Time: 7:10 a.m. ET

Where: Gangneung Hockey Centre, Gangneung, South Korea

TV: NBCSN

Live stream: NBC Olympics