Olympic men’s hockey semifinal preview: USA vs. Slovakia

Feb 19, 2026, 13:00 ESTUpdated: Feb 19, 2026, 11:42 EST

Olympic men’s hockey semifinal preview: USA vs. Slovakia

Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

USA (3-1-0-0) vs. Slovakia (3-0-1-0): Feb. 20, 3:10 p.m. ET

HOW THEY GOT HERE

After a slightly underwhelming run against relatively easy competition in the qualifying round, Team USA punched its ticket to the semifinals with a tense 2-1 overtime win over Team Sweden on Wednesday. Though not the most exciting game of the day, it nevertheless featured plenty of drama, with Sweden’s Mika Zibanejad tying the game and forcing overtime with 91 seconds left before Quinn Hughes won it with a perfectly placed shot early in the extra frame. It hasn’t been a dominant run for Team USA thus far, but their experience overcoming adversity should bode well for them as the tournament continues.

Team Slovakia has been one of the stories of these Olympics, with Juraj Slafkovsky picking up exactly where he left off after his MVP-winning turn at Beijing 2022. They earned a bye to the quarterfinals by virtue of their strong record in the preliminaries and took care of Team Germany on Wednesday without too much trouble, scoring early and often en route to a 6-2 win. St. Louis Blues center Dalibor Dvorsky picked up a goal and an assist in the win, which guaranteed the Slovaks a chance to play for a medal.

WHEN THEY LAST MET IN BEST ON BEST…

The Americans and Slovaks both competed in Group A at Sochi 2014. That tournament didn’t exactly go Slovakia’s way — they lost all three of their games in the preliminary round, followed by a quick exit at the hands of Team Czechia in the playoffs. And the Slovaks’ biggest defeat of those Olympics came against Team USA, who dispatched them 7-1 on the very first day of competition. Paul Stastny scored twice and Jonathan Quick made 22 saves in the decisive USA victory, which paved the way for them to enter the quarterfinals as the No. 2 seed … although they ultimately failed to medal.

TOP SCORERS

USA
1. Auston Matthews, F: 4 GP, 3 G, 3 A, 6 PTS
2. Quinn Hughes, D: 4 GP, 1 G, 5 A, 6 PTS
3. Matthew Tkachuk, F: 4 GP, 0 G, 5 A, 5 PTS
T-4. Jack Hughes, F: 4 GP, 1 G, 3 A, 4 PTS
T-4. Jack Eichel, F: 4 GP, 1 G, 3 A, 4 PTS

Slovakia
1. Juraj Slafkovsky, F: 4 GP, 3 G, 4 A, 7 PTS
2. Dalibor Dvorsky, F: 4 GP, 3 G, 3 A, 6 PTS
T-3. Adam Ruzicka, F: 4 GP, 2 G, 2 A, 4 PTS
T-3. Pavol Regenda, F: 4 GP, 2 G, 2 A, 4 PTS
5. Martin Gernat, D: 4 GP, 1 G, 3 A, 4 PTS

USA

Team USA’s management group has come under tons of scrutiny for some of their personnel decisions leading up to and during this tournament, but they have yet to lose a game. There may not be a singular driver for this team like we’ve seen with some of the other medal contenders, but make no mistake: Team USA still has plenty of stars, and many of them are still due for defining Olympic moments.

For example, when will Matthew Tkachuk score his first goal in Milan? Auston Matthews is the Americans’ leading scorer, but he still hasn’t always been at his best. Jack Eichel could also stand to show more of the clutch factor we saw from him in the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs. There’s more for this group to give, and there won’t be another opportunity for Team USA to tune up its game in advance of a potential winner-take-all bout — provided they actually get there.

SLOVAKIA

The Slovaks aren’t just happy to be here. They’re on a mission, and their objective is gold. Coming off their first-ever medal four years ago, this Slovak team is younger, bigger, and more exciting than others we’ve seen in the past. And it’s certainly not like Slovakia hasn’t brought good teams before — Marian Hossa, Zdeno Chara, Miroslav Satan, and Pavol Demitra all say hello.

If you think this Slovak team is threatening now, just wait four more years. They’ve got a ton of growing left to do, and relatively few elder statesmen on the verge of aging out. Slafkovsky and Dvorsky should be Slovakia’s cornerstones for years to come, and Simon Nemec still has the potential to become a top option on defense both in the NHL and in international play. They might not be all the way there quite yet, but Slovakia’s ascension as a hockey power has been a ton of fun to watch.

BURNING QUESTIONS

USA: Who gets the nod in goal? Connor Hellebuyck did exactly what was asked of him in the Americans’ quarterfinal win over Sweden on Wednesday. Now, against what could be — in theory — a more beatable opponent, does USA’s coaching staff dare resting Hellebuyck in anticipation of a start in the gold medal game? It’s a presumptuous question in a lot of ways, and we already saw Jeremy Swayman struggle to a certain extent in the preliminary round. But could it happen?

Slovakia: Can Slafkovsky put them on his back? The Montreal Canadiens wouldn’t have picked Slafkovsky first overall at the 2022 NHL Draft had he not scored seven goals in seven games at that year’s Olympics, and he’s already matched his overall point production from that tournament in Milan. But this is a different kind of test for the 21-year-old winger. Going up against a stacked American team is best-on-best competition? That’s uncharted territory for Slafkovsky and most of these Slovak players. How will they respond?

PREDICTION

Compared to Team Canada vs. Team Finland, this definitely feels like the bigger mismatch of the two semifinals. And it’s easy to imagine the Americans scoring a handful of goals right off the bat and cruising to an easy win. But this has been a magical run for Slovakia, who had a similar experience in best-on-best at Vancouver 2010 and are coming off a bronze at Beijing 2022. Ultimately, we’ll defer to Team USA’s firepower against a Slovak roster that just doesn’t quite stack up on paper. But that doesn’t mean it won’t be close. USA wins 5-3.

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