The game of the day will be on primetime, 7:30pm EST, as the top-two teams in Group A square-off in the third-and-final game of the preliminary round.  Team USA [1st place with 6 points] will be “away” as they take on Gold Medal hopefuls and second-place Team Canada [5 points].

The winner of this game–and top-4 overall teams’ in the Olympic Games–receive  a bye past the Qualification Playoffs and directly into the Quarter Finals, which start on Tuesday, Feb. 23.

USA: 9 goals-for, 2 goals-against
Canada: 11 goals-for, 2 goals-against

The same goes with the top-two teams in Group C, Sweden and Finland, both with 2-0-0 records and tied with six-points. The puck drops on the Fins and Swedes at midnight, EST.

Sweden: 6 goals-for, 2 goals-against
Finland: 10 goals-for, 1 goals-against

And finally, Group B: Russia [4 points/3rd] vs. Czech Republic [6 points/1st]. I’m completely surprised by these standings in this one. I had Russia pegged as the top-team in this Group, and as a sure-medal team [Silver]. These two rivals face-off at 3pm EST. I’m flying home from work at 2:30pm to watch this one.

Russia: 9 goals-for, 4 goals-against
Czech: 8 goals-for, 3 goals-against

Olympic’s points’ system:
Regulation Win = 3 points
Overtime/shootout win = 2 points
Overtime/shootout loss = 1 point
Regulation loss = 0 points