Olympic men’s hockey quarterfinal preview: Slovakia vs. Germany

SLOVAKIA (2-0-1-0) vs. GERMANY (2-0-2-0): Feb. 18, 6:10 a.m. ET

HOW THEY GOT HERE

Slovakia arrived in Milan with a ton to prove. It won bronze at the 2022 Beijing Olympics on the back of Juraj Slafkovsky’s MVP performance, but that came against a field lacking NHL participation. Could Slovakia break through against the world’s best hockey talent?

We got our answer immediately, in the tournament’s first game, when Slafkovsky resumed his rampage and scored the first goal of Milan 2026, part of a two-goal day that helped Slovakia upset Finland 4-1. Slovakia took down Italy as well and kept things close enough with Sweden to win the Group B tiebreaker over the Finns on goal differential.

Germany followed an opening win over Denmark in Group C with lackluster results against Latvia and USA, dropping two of three games. But Germany corrected course for its play-in battle with France on Tuesday as captain Leon Draisaitl activated his superstar switch, collecting a goal and three points in more than 24 minutes of ice time.

Are the Germans back in play as a sleeper medal threat, or did they simply benefit from an easy draw in a French team ranked 14^th worldwide by the IIHF?

WHEN THEY LAST MET IN BEST ON BEST…

Slovakia and Germany haven’t locked horns in best-on-best Olympic hockey since the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, when they shared a group in the preliminary qualifier bracket. Germany shut Slovakia out 3-0. “Best on best” wasn’t quite accurate, though; the NHL hadn’t paused for its Olympic break when that round of the tournament began, and some NHLers, such as Slovakia’s Marian Hossa and Zdeno Chara, had to stay behind and play for their pro teams. That said, Slovakia had Ziggy Palffy, Miroslav Satan, Michal Handzus and Lubomir Visnovsky playing in the game, so Marc Seliger’s shutout was well earned for Germany.

TOP SCORERS

Slovakia
1. Juraj Slafkovsky, F: 3 GP, 3 G, 3 A, 6 PTS
2. Dalibor Dvorsky, F: 3 GP, 2 G, 2 A, 4 PTS
3. Martin Gernat, D: 3 GP, 1 G, 3 A, 4 PTS
4. Adam Ruzicka, F: 3 GP, 2 G, 1 A, 3 PTS
T-5. Peter Ceresnak, D: 3 GP, 0 G, 2 A, 2 PTS
T-5. Adam Liska, F: 3 GP, 0 G, 2 A, 2 PTS
T-5. Simon Nemec, D: 3 GP, 0 G, 2 A, 2 PTS

Germany
T-1. Tim Stutzle, F: 4 GP, 4 G, 2 A, 6 PTS
T-1. Leon Draisaitl, F: 4 GP, 2 G, 4 A, 6 PTS
3. JJ Peterka, F: 4 GP, 1 G, 3 A, 4 PTS
4. Frederik Tiffels, F: 4 GP, 1 G, 2 A, 3 PTS
T-5. Lukas Kalble, D: 4 GP, 1 G, 1 A, 2 PTS
T-5. Joshua Samanski, F: 4 GP, 1 G, 1 A, 2 PTS
T-5. Moritz Seider, D: 4 GP, 0 G, 2 A, 2 PTS

SLOVAKIA

Slovakia isn’t the deepest team in the field, boasting just a handful of established NHLers, but it took merely minutes to establish itself as a medal contender in Milan with Slafkovsky scoring that first goal. Continuing his incredible Olympic play dating back to 2022, he’s been the story, but he’s gotten some useful support. St. Louis Blues youngster Dalibor Dvorsky has stepped up as a scoring weapon up front; New Jersey Devils defenseman Simon Nemec has munched minutes on the back end; and Martin Gernat, a goal-scoring defenseman from the KHL, has provided a lift. But if Slafkovsky is the MVP for Slovakia, goaltender Samuel Hlavac is the runner-up. He turned aside 85 of 91 shots against Finland and Sweden. The Slovaks aren’t the most stacked outfit playing in the quarters, but they compete with a ton of physicality and intensity, with the likes of forward Martin Pospisil and blueliner Erik Cernak setting the tone.

GERMANY

Germany had one of the more intriguing team makeups entering the tourney; while they ranked among the shallowest teams in the field, they boasted some of the best NHL star power between Draisaitl, Tim Stutzle and JJ Peterka at forward and Moritz Seider on defense, with Seattle Kraken netminder Philipp Grubauer entering the tournament on a heater. The top-heavy setup produced underwhelming results in group play but delivered against France during the play-in, with Draisaitl barking orders at teammates all game to fire up his bench. Coach Harold Kreis experimented with sending Stutzle, Draisaitl, and Peterka out for some shifts together, and Germany converted a pair of power-play goals, one from Draisaitl and one from Edmonton Oilers teammate Joshua Samansky. The Germans stayed in control throughout their 5-1 win. Does it mean they’re back, or did the easy opponent obscure the result?

BURNING QUESTIONS

Slovakia: Can Samuel Hlavaj continue his magical run? Hlavaj’s .934 save percentage across his two appearances is impressive. It “only” places him sixth on the tournament leaderboard, but that’s before you factor in the difficulty of his workload. Hlavaj saw 91 shots in the preliminary round; only lowly Italy’s Damian Clara faced more, and Hlavaj only started two games. Hlavaj, a Minnesota Wild prospect, was simply sensational in Group B play, but the fact he saw that much rubber reminds us Slovakia wasn’t actually dominant. Scratch the Italian matchup and Finland and Sweden combined to outshoot Slovakia 91-57. If Hlavac doesn’t continue standing on his head, will the Slovaks be exposed?

Germany: Are the special teams finally on track? The power play and penalty kill struggled badly during the group stage before Germany went 2-for-3 on the power play and killed off both its penalties vs. France. If the special teams can sustain their momentum, Slovakia might be in trouble.

PREDICTION

Paper tiger alert. The Slovaks have been such a fun story to watch in these Olympics, not to mention the 2022 Winter Games. But they’re skating by on vibes and goaltending. They were outplayed by Finland and Sweden and can’t match Germany’s top-end talent, which Kreis will have no problem leaning on for monster minutes in this do-or-die matchup. The Slovaks’ Cinderella run ends as the Germans steal the glass slipper. Germany wins 3-2.

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