Today at 12:00 p.m. ET, the Czech Republic and the United States faceoff in men's ice hockey quarterfinal action live from the Shayba Arena in Sochi as part of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. The game can be live streamed for free here.
The Czech Republic looks to continue its solid history of playing well in the Olympics outside of North America after winning gold in Japan in 1998 and bronze in 2006 in Italy while the U.S. tries to build off of its successful trip to the Olympics in 2010 when it lost in overtime to the Canadians in the gold medal game and left the Vancouver Games with a silver medal.
The Czechs will look to play sharper after nearly blowing a 4-0 lead to Slovakia on Tuesday in its qualification game while surviving a late flurry to win the game 5-3 and earn the right to play for a chance to make it to the semifinals.
"We were just very, very static," Ales Hemsky (Edmonton Oilers), who scored a goal, told the IIHF website. "Suddenly they [Slovakia] came to life and scored some goals. All of a sudden the game changed. We can't afford to be static like that. We have to play out the game."
The Czechs will have New Jersey Devils veteran Patrik Elias (illness) in the lineup after he was questionable. The Czech Republic has thrived off of veteran leadership throughout the tournament, mostly stemming from Elias' Devils teammate Jaromir Jagr.
Jagr, 42, has 49 points in 59 games for the Devils this season off of 17 goals and 32 assists.
The United States went 3-0 in group play, earning two wins in regulation and one in an eight-round shootout against Russia to clinch Group A, but coach Dan Bylsma of the Pittsburgh Penguins would like to see his team play a faster game.
"I would say there are opportunities that we have missed that we can play quickly, play north, push the pace up the ice," Bylsma said following the Americans' practice Tuesday, according to NHL.com. "That's something we did well at times; I just think we can be better at realizing that."
The players trust Bylsma's system and enjoy pushing the pace of the game.
"If we come with speed and we do our systems, there's going to be holes," center Ryan Kesler (Vancouver Canucks), who had a hat trick on Sunday, said via NHL.com. "I like getting speed coming through the neutral zone. With this team I think that's when we're at our best."
Kesler has played in all 60 games for the Canucks this season and has put up 38 points off of 20 goals and 18 assists.
Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings will man the crease for the United States, and he is 16-13-2 for L.A. through 32 games this year with a 2.18 goals-against average and a .911 save percentage.
The winner of this game advances to face the winner of the Canada-Latvia game in the semifinals.
The Czechs and the Americans both look to advance to the semifinals when the puck drops today at the Shayba Arena in Sochi as part of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.
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