Today at 12:00 p.m. ET, Sweden and Latvia faceoff live from Sochi as part of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Group C action. The game can be live streamed for free here.
Sweden has earned two wins thus far in their Olympic quest, notching a 4-2 win over the Czech Republic and then a narrow 1-0 win over Switzerland while Latvia has lost both of its games, suffering a 1-0 loss to Switzerland and then a 4-2 loss to the Czechs.
Just after announcing that captain and Detroit Red Wing Henrik Zetterberg (back) would miss the rest of the tournament, Sweden notched a 1-0 win on the back of a Henrik Lundqvist (New York Rangers) 26-save shutout and a tally by Daniel Alfredsson, Zetterberg's teammate on Detroit with 7:21 remaining in regulation.
Alfredsson has 35 points in 46 games off of 14 goals and 21 assists for the Red Wings this season.
The Swedes are in an ideal position and could nab a bye in the quarterfinals if they go through the qualifiers unbeaten, but they'll have to go on without Zetterberg who is dealing with a herniated disc.
"We all know what he goes through on a daily basis to be able to play, and for him to sit out, you know, it's pretty bad," said Olympic and Red Wings teammate Niklas Kronwall via CTPost.com. "In saying that, we can't feel sorry for ourselves."
Coach Ted Nolan and his Latvian team will look to earn their first win of the tournament but they'll have the tall task of trying to dethrone the class of Group C. The team fell 4-2 in a game against the Czech Republic that saw Jaromir Jagr weave his way through for a thrilling top-shelf goal against Latvia.
"He just has that skill," Latvia forward Zemgus Girgensons said of Jagr per CTPost.com. "No matter how old he is, he's just an amazing player and it's fun to play against him."
Latvia will hope to contain the Swedes today at the Sochi Games. Girgensons is the lone representative from the NHL and plays for Nolan's Buffalo Sabres. On the season, Girgensons has 17 points in 56 games off of five goals and 12 assists.
Sweden looks to go 3-0 in the tournament while Latvia searches for its first win when the puck drops on these two teams as part of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.
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