MILAN — Frederik Andersen will not start for Team Denmark against Team USA at Santagiulia Arena on Saturday (3:10 p.m. ET; Peacock, USA, ICI Télé, CBC Gem, TSN) in a Group C preliminary round game at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.
“I’m not going to start Andersen tomorrow,” Denmark coach Mikael Gath told NHL.com after practice Friday.
Why would the Danes not play their No. 1 goaltender against the Americans?
Probably to save him for a more winnable game, hoping to put themselves in a better position for the single-elimination portion of the tournament.
Andersen made 23 saves in Denmark’s 3-1 loss to Team Germany across the city at Rho Arena on Thursday.
The Danes are heavy underdogs against the U.S., and the game is at 9:10 p.m. local time Saturday. They must go back to Rho Arena to play Team Latvia at 7:10 p.m. local time Sunday.
The 12 teams in the tournament are divided into three groups. Each team plays three preliminary round games within its group. The winners of each group and the best second-place finisher receive byes into the quarterfinals, while the rest are seeded for the qualification round. The winners in the qualification round advance to the quarterfinals.
Germany and the United States are tied for the lead in Group C, each with a regulation win. Denmark and Latvia each has a regulation loss.
“We have a bad schedule,” Gath said. “We’re playing 9 o’clock against U.S., and then we play early against Latvia the day after, and we have three good goalies.”
