After an uninspiring win over Italy and a loss to Finland, Sweden is making some changes to their lineup on Saturday. Lindholm will replace Rasmus Andersson and dress as Sweden's seventh defenseman. The seventh defenseman and 13th forward haven't seen much ice-time for Sweden through two games, so it's unclear how much Lindholm will actually play on Saturday.
After an uninspiring win over Italy and a loss to Finland, Sweden is making some changes to their lineup on Saturday. Johansson will draw into the lineup to replace Elias Lindholm, and will bump Jesper Bratt down to the 13th forward. Johansson, who has 37 points (13G / 24A) in 53 games with the Minnesota Wild this season, had eight points (4G / 4A) at the 2025 World Championships.
It looked like Markstrom may start on Friday, but Sweden ultimately went back to Filip Gustavsson, in what would turn out to be a loss to Finland. So Markstrom will make his tournament debut today vs. Slovakia, his first international start since last year's World Championships. He was 4-2-0 with a 2.14 GAA and .894 SV% in that tournament and is 15-13-1 with a 3.20 GAA and .882 SV% with the Devils this season.
Hlavaj was the star of Day 1 of the tournament, standing on his head, stopping 39 of 40 shots to steal a 4-1 win over Finland. He was given yesterday off, but he'll return to the crease Saturday vs. Sweden. He'll have his hands full again, as Sweden rank second in the tournament in xG/gm (5.52) so far.
Silovs started Latvia's tournament opener on the bench, but replaced Elvis Merzlikins for the third period. He stopped five of the six shots that he faced in relief and will get the start Saturday vs. Germany. Silovs last played internationally for Latvia at the 2023 World Championships, where he was 7-3-0 with a 2.20 GAA and .921 SV%, leading Latvia to a surprise Bronze Medal.
Grubauer was spectacular in Germany's tournament opening win over Denmark, stopping 37 of the 38 shots he faced to earn the 3-1 win. He'll go again this morning against a Latvia team coming off of a 5-1 loss to the United States on Thursday. Grubauer and Germany are sizeable favourites to move to 2-0-0.
At 37-years-old, Team Canada will give the veteran a breather on the second half of a back-to-back, inserting Seth Jarvis onto the fourth line. Expect Marchand to be back in the lineup on Sunday.
Jarvis was a healthy scratch for Canada's tournament opener, but he will give veteran Brad Marchand a night off vs. Switzerland. Jarvis is having another great season for Carolina (25G / 18A in 49 games) but had just one assist in three games for Canada at the 4Nations tournament last Spring.
Sanheim was a healthy scratch for the tournament opener vs. Czechia, but will replace Josh Morrissey in the lineup on Friday. Sanheim is expected to serve as the No.7 defenseman, so he'll likely play limited ice time vs. Switzerland. Internationally, he had two goals and two assists in 11 games between the 4Nations (3 games) and World Championships (8 games) in 2025.
Morrissey got hurt early in Canada's tournament opening win over the Czechs, and will miss their second game vs. Switzerland. Team Canada didn't provide much of an update on Morrissey's status, so it's unclear how many games he will miss. Travis Sanheim will draw into the lineup to replace Morrissey.
Schmid has been so-so for the Golden Knights this season, he's got a strong record at 16-6-6 but has a 2.53 GAA and league average .895 SV%. The last time he suited up for Team Switzerland was in the 2024 World Championships, where he was 3-0-0 with a dazzling 0.86 GAAm .946 SV% and one shutout. He'll be a busy man on Friday vs. Canada, as Switzerland unsparingly enter the game as massive underdogs.
Thompson is enjoying another strong year for the Washington Capitals, going 19-16-4 with a 2.45 GAA, .912 SV% and two shutouts in 39 games. Internationally, he has not played for Team Canada since the 2022 World Championships, before he was even a full-time NHLer. He should have a chance to battle Jordan Binnington for playing time throughout these Olympics.
Neckar is the youngest of the French goalies at just 20-years-old, and many believed he was just along for the experience, as France's future No.1 netidner. But he'll get the start ahead of veteran Julian Junca. Neckar hasn't played above the U20 level internationally, but is 9-8-1 with a 1.92 GAA and .932 SV% in 19 games in the Tier 2 Swiss league.
Vladar has had a strong season for the Flyers, but it's a bit of a surprise to see him as Czechia's No.2 option ahead of Karel Vejmelka, who is tied for the NHL lead in wins. It is likely due to his strong performance at the World Championships last year, where he was 3-0-0 with a 1.09 GAA, .951 SV% and one shutout. It should be a relatively easy game for Vladar, as Czechia are massive favourites over France.
Gustavsson had a really rough first period but ultimately settled in to stop 20 of the 22 shots that he faced in Sweden's win over Italy on Wednesday. It wasn't pretty, but it was enough to beat the overmatched hosts, however Sweden will need him to be sharper against Finland on Friday. Gustavsson and the Swedes are -192 favourites vs. their bitter rivals.
Skorvanek watched Samuel Hlavaj put on a dazzling performance in Slovakia's tournament opener and will get his opportunity on Friday vs. Italy. The 30-year-old netminder plays for Mountfield HK (Czech ExtraLiga), where he's tied for the league lead in wins (24), second in GAA (1.95) and tied for fifth in SV% (.923) this season. Slovakia are massive -1050 to move to 2-0 in the tournament.
Fadani surrendered one goal on 10 shots in 13:32 after replacing Damian Clara in Italy's tournament opening loss to Sweden. Today he'll start against Slovakia, as sizeable +675 underdogs. The 25-year-old netminder plays for Kloten HC (NL) and has gone 8-9-2 with a 2.43 GAA, .922 SV% and two shutouts this season.
Clara was absolutely spectacular in his Olympics debut, making 46 saves before being forced to leave Italy's loss to Sweden. If Clara isn't available to start Friday's game vs. Slovakia, expect Davide Fadani, who replaced him on Wednesday, to get the start.
Lehtonen had a brutal turnover that led to Slovakia's first goal on Wednesday and played just 7:23 as Finland's No.7 defenseman. He'll out of the lineup and Nikolas Matinpalo will draw in to replace him.
Matinpalo was a healthy scratch for the tournament opener on Wednesday, but will replace Mikko Lehtonen on the back-end on Friday. Matinpalo will skate on the third pair with Olli Maatta and Henri Jokiharju will be the seventh defenseman. Matinpalo is a big, physical defenseman that doesn't bring much offence to the table, posting just four assists in 30 games with the Senators this season.
