2026 Winter Olympics Open Thread: Team USA vs Germany

Team USA is 2-0 in the preliminary round, besting Latvia 5-1 and Denmark 6-3. They now face Germany to wrap up round robin play, with the second overall seed in tournament play up for grabs. It doesn’t seem like they will get the top seed due to goal differential, as Canada has a 2 goal advantage with France up next. It’s unlikely the Rangers are able to make up that differential against Germany. That’s fine. Team USA has been shaky at times, especially in net, but it’s more about how they play in the elimination tournament.

Team USA lines (presumed from last game)

Brady Tkachuk-Jack Eichel-Matthew Tkachuk
Jake Guentzel-Auston Matthews-Mat Boldy
Kyle Connor-Dylan Larkin-Tage Thompson
JT Miller-Brock Nelson-Jack Hughes
Vincent Trocheck

Quinn Hughes-Charlie McAvoy
Jaccob Slavin-Brock Faber
Zach Werenski-Jake Sanderson
Noah Hanifin

Jeremy Swayman gets the start.

Germany Lines

Joshua Samanski-Leon Draisaitl-Frederik Tiffels
JJ Peterka-Tim Stutzle-Wojciech Stachowiak
Mark Michaelis-Dominik Kahun-Lukas Reichel
Tobias Reider-Alexander EHL-Nico Sturm

Fabio Wagner-Moritz Seider
Kai Wissman-Jonas Muller
Leon Gawanke-Lukas Kalble
Moritz Muller

Phillip Grubauer gets the start.