Olympic hockey: William Nylander, Sweden takes on the USA in the quarter-finals after winning against Latvia

It might have been a little shocking to see Team Sweden entered the play-off rounds as the seventh-seeded team in the tournament, but after a significant loss to Finland and a win over Italy that was closer than they would probably like, Sweden finished third in their group due to goal difference and had to face Latvia in the play-offs. They won relatively handily against Latvia, by a score of 5-1, and will immediately have their biggest task yet with a quarter-final against the United States on Wednesday.

Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander scored a goal and an assist in the win, giving him four points in four games for Team Sweden so far. Los Angeles Kings forward Adrian Kempe opened the scoring just over halfway through the first period, with Nylander getting an assist on the count, and 40 seconds later, Colorado Avalanche forward Gabriel Landeskog made it 2-0 with helpers from Lucas Raymond and Mika Zibanejad.

Nashville Predators forward Filip Forsberg kicked off Team Sweden in the second period Latvia forward Eduards Tralmaks scored to bring them within two as the teams entered the third period, but Sweden made sure to put the final nail in the coffin. Zibanejad scored to make it 4–1 after six minutes, and Nylander scored his second of the tournament with helpers from Raymond and Rasmus Dahlin to ensure there would be no comeback attempt from Latvia, ultimately securing the 5–1 win.

Sweden will face victory USA in an earlier-than-expected heavyweight bout in the quarterfinals, meaning one of Nylander/Oliver Ekman-Larsson or Auston Matthews will go home early. While the United States will be favored in this game, and rightly so, it could be anyone’s game depending on who has the better hands that day. Canada, meanwhile, faces the Czech Republic for their quarterfinal match at 10:40 a.m. eastern time.

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