Both the U.S. and Sweden head into the fourth and final preliminary round game unbeaten, and the winner of tonight’s tilt will earn the top spot in Group A and play the fourth-place finisher from Group B in the quarterfinals on Friday (Jan. 2). Team USA will play its QF game at 5 p.m. in Grand Casino Arena.
The U.S. has a slim 17-2-1-16-2 (W-OTW-OTL-L-T) advantage in the all-time series over Sweden, however, the U.S. has won seven of the last 10 games. The teams last met in the gold-medal game in the 2024 tournament in Gothenburg, Sweden, with the U.S. earning a 6-2 victory. Five of the last 10 games between the teams have been played with a medal on the line, including two for gold (2024, 2013) and three for bronze (2023, 2016, 2011). The U.S. has won each of those five contests.
Team USA rallied from a pair of two-goal deficits to gain a 6-5 win over Slovakia in its last outing on Monday (Dec. 29). James Hagens (Hauppage, N.Y./Boston College) scored a pair of goals and Will Zellers (Maple Grove, Minn./University of North Dakota) had the game-winning goal for the third straight contest.
Sweden last played on Monday (Dec. 29) and gained an 8-1 win over Germany. Sweden also has a 4-2 win over Switzerland (Dec. 28) and a 3-2 triumph over Slovakia (Dec. 26) to its credit.
Will Zellers is Team USA’s top point-getter through three games with 4-2—6, followed by James Hagens (2-2—4), Brodie Ziemer (1-3—4) and AJ Spellacy (1-3—4).
