"One of Auston Matthews and William Nylander/Oliver Ekman-Larsson will be headed home early as Team USA and Team Sweden get set to face off in the quarter finals following Sweden's 5-1 victory over Latvia in the play-off round on Tuesday. It will mark the first clash between the Toronto Maple Leafs teammates of the tournament. It's somewhat shocking to see two teams like this in the quarter finals, given that an argument easily could have been made for both of those teams to finish among the top four seeds, but it goes to show how important goal differential is in a tournament like this."
"Despite Sweden, Slovakia, and Finland all finishing with the same record, it came down to goal differential among each of the three teams that tied. Slovakia beat Finland 4-1 and lost 5-3 to Sweden, giving them a plus-1 goal differential. Finland lost 4-1 to Slovakia but beat Sweden 4-1, giving them an even differential. And Sweden beat Slovakia 5-3 but lost 4-1 to Finland, giving them a minus-1 goal differential and costing them a bye to the quarter finals."
"Nylander is fourth on his team in scoring with two goals and four points in four games, while Ekman-Larsson has been used sparingly by his team and hasn't recorded a point in four games. Matthews, meanwhile, shares the team lead for scoring with Matthew Tkachuk, both sitting at five points in three games. While Sweden's tournament has been underwhelming from a seeding standpoint, they will undoubtedly show up to play against a USA team that has yet to lose a game at the tournament."
Team USA will meet Team Sweden in the quarterfinals after Sweden defeated Latvia 5-1 in the play-off round. Sweden, Slovakia, and Finland finished with identical records and seeding was decided by goal differential: Slovakia finished with plus-1, Finland even, and Sweden minus-1, which cost Sweden a bye. Sweden advanced by beating Latvia and now faces the United States; Finland faces Switzerland and Slovakia plays Germany. Auston Matthews and Matthew Tkachuk each have five points in three games. William Nylander has two goals and four points; Oliver Ekman-Larsson has been used sparingly and has no points.
Read at TheLeafsNation
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