Team USA Men’s Hockey to Face Sweden in Olympic Quarterfinals: Here’s What to Know

Auston Matthews and Matthew Tkachuk will look to lead Team USA to a win in the quarterfinals against Sweden. | Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Team USA and Sweden will face off on Wednesday (3:10 p.m. ET, NBC) in a quarterfinals bout at the Milan Cortina Olympics. The Swedes took care of business against Latvia on Tuesday, securing their place in the quarterfinals via a 5–1 win in the qualifying round.

Although the U.S. remains undefeated through its first three games in Milan, the Swedish team will be a difficult opponent. Sweden has an abundance of talent on its roster and has won three of its four games at the Olympics, with its only loss coming at the hands of a talented Finland squad in the preliminary rounds.

Let’s take a look at Sweden’s roster and its past games at this year’s Olympics, and in its history at the Games.

Sweden Olympic Ice Hockey History

The Swedish ice hockey team has a long and storied history at the Olympic Games. Sweden has sent an ice hockey team to the Winter Olympics every four years since the sport was added to the Games in Antwerp in 1920. The country has won gold twice, winning it all in 1994 at the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, and again in 2006 at the Games in Turin, Italy. In total, Sweden has nine medals at the Olympics and has participated in the Games 21 times.

Sweden hasn’t earned a medal of any kind since NHL players were prohibited from participating in the Olympics. Their last medal was a silver in 2014 in Sochi, Russia, and they’ll look to avoid going three consecutive Games without a medal since their poor run from 1968 to 1976.

Team Sweden’s Olympic Hockey Roster

Team Sweden has a potent attack, with NHL players across all four lines. Sweden is one of three nations at the Olympics with a men’s hockey roster consisting entirely of NHL talent.

Player	Position	NHL Team
Jesper Bratt	Forward	New Jersey Devils
Joel Eriksson Ek	Forward	Minnesota Wild
Filip Forsberg	Forward	Nashville Predators
Pontus Holmberg	Forward	Tampa Bay Lightning
Marcus Johansson	Forward	Minnesota Wild
Adrian Kempe	Forward	Los Angeles Kings
Gabriel Landeskog	Forward	Colorado Avalanche
Elias Lindholm	Forward	Boston Bruins
William Nylander	Forward	Toronto Maple Leafs
Elias Pettersson	Forward	Vancouver Canucks
Rickard Rakell	Forward	Pittsburgh Penguins
Lucas Raymond	Forward	Detroit Red Wings
Alexander Wennberg	Forward	San Jose Sharks
Mika Zibanejad	Forward	New York Rangers
Rasmus Andersson	Defenseman	Vegas Golden Knights
Philip Broberg	Defenseman	St. Louis Blues
Rasmus Dahlin	Defenseman	Buffalo Sabres
Oliver Ekman-Larsson	Defenseman	Toronto Maple Leafs
Gustav Forsling	Defenseman	Florida Panthers
Victor Hedman	Defenseman	Tampa Bay Lightning
Erik Karlsson	Defenseman	San Jose Sharks
Hampus Lindholm	Defenseman	Boston Bruins
Filip Gustavsson	Goalie	Minnesota Wild
Jacob Markstrom	Goalie	New Jersey Devils
Jesper Wallstedt	Goalie	Minnesota Wild

Sweden has done plenty of tinkering with its roster, including benching some of its more notable forwards, such as Filip Forsberg and Jesper Bratt, at various points throughout the Games. Lucas Raymond has enjoyed a sensational Olympics thus far, with eight points in his first four games, second most among all skaters, trailing only Connor McDavid. He’ll be a major threat on Wednesday against the U.S.

Mika Zibanejad and Rasmus Dahlin have both contributed five points apiece, while William Nylander, Adrian Kempe and Erik Karlsson all have four points.

Sweden at the Milan Cortina Olympics

Preliminary Round:

Game 1: Sweden 5, Italy 2

Goals: Landeskog, Forsling, Nylander, Zibanejad, Hedman

Game 2: Finland 4, Sweden 1

Goals: Dahlin

Game 3: Sweden 5, Slovakia 3

Goals: Eriksson Ek, Kempe, Pettersson (2), Raymond

Qualifying Round

Game 4: Sweden 5, Latvia 1

Goals: Kempe, Landeskog, Forsberg, Zibanejad, Nylander

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