U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team reacts to lighter boards, plus Auston Matthews vs. William Nylander

The Athletic has live coverage of USA vs Sweden in the 2026 Winter Olympics men’s hockey quarterfinal.

MILAN — For the first time since 2014, a hockey game will take place that features Toronto Maple Leafs teammates Auston Matthews and William Nylander playing against each other.

The last time they played against each other was in the Under-18 World Championship 12 years ago; Matthews scored a goal and Nylander had an assist.

When Matthews’ Team USA and Nylander’s Team Sweden played against each other in last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off, Matthews missed the game with an injury.

This time it’ll be in the quarterfinal in the Olympics, meaning the loser heads back to Toronto and won’t have a chance to medal with their respective United States or Sweden.

“It’ll be a lot of fun,” Nylander said of facing Matthews. “I think 12 years ago, I probably didn’t even know that we were going to be teammates. So now after playing, I don’t know, 10 years together, it’s going to be very special and a lot of fun.”

Matthews leads the Americans with three goals and five points in three games, while Nylander scored a goal and an assist Tuesday night in a Sweden win over Latvia to lead the Swedes into the quarters. He has scored two goals and four points in four games.

“I’m sure it’ll be interesting,” Matthews told TSN’s Mark Masters. “Obviously he’s a good friend and teammate of mine for 10 years now. He’s a special player, a great guy, a great friend.”

Matthews has been one of the United States’ best players, clearly challenged after a subpar opening game where his line with Jake Guentzel and Matt Boldy wasn’t clicking at even strength. But coach Mike Sullivan “exercised patience” with the line and now has spent the past two games raving about how Matthews’ game is building.

“He does a lot of things really well, even when he’s not producing, that people might not notice,” U.S. teammate Zach Werenski said. “Everyone’s always focused on his goal-scoring and rightfully so. He’s one of the best goal scorers in the world. But since we’ve been here, he’s been such a leader for us the way he plays the game.”

Added GM Bill Guerin, “There are a lot of different ways to lead. He’s not a man of many words, but he puts it out there every night. Auston’s two-way game and his ability to strip pucks and check and play defensively when he needs to … is elite. And that, going along with his offensive capabilities, makes a pretty good player. He’s a pretty special kid.”

Based on practice Tuesday, it appears as if Team USA will start the knockout round with Kyle Connor out of the lineup. (Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)

Connor on outside looking in … again

Just like the 4 Nations Face-Off, where he was scratched in the final against Canada, it appears as if the United States will start the knockout round with Kyle Connor out of the lineup.

After having no shots in two games on the third line with Dylan Larkin and Tage Thompson, Connor sat in the final prelim game against Germany and was the 14th forward during line rushes at Tuesday’s practice in preparation for Wednesday’s quarterfinal.

Clayton Keller looks like he’ll get a second game in a row on the left of Larkin and Thompson.

“He has good offensive instincts,” coach Mike Sullivan said of Keller. “I think he has good instincts away from the puck, also just his ability to play within structure. His panic threshold with the puck is really high. He hangs onto pucks down low. For a guy that’s undersized, he’s pretty stiff on the puck, and his ability to create separation, to make the next play, is really good. His lateral agility in tight space, he’s not easy to handle. I thought he made an impact on that line.”

USA PK perfect

One of the best parts of the United States’ game at this juncture has been its penalty kill. They are a perfect 9-for-9 on the PK.

The sets up front are J.T. Miller-Vincent Trocheck, Larkin-Brock Nelson and Jack Eichel-Boldy, with Jake Guentzel working in. The defense pairs are Jaccob Slavin-Brock Faber and Jake Sanderson-Charlie McAvoy, with Noah Hanifin worked in.

“Obviously, we come here with a role that’s been placed upon us,” Trocheck said. “Me and J.T., the penalty kill’s a really big part of that. Obviously it helps when you have elite D back there.”

What’s also been huge for Team USA is that they are winning most draws. The Americans are smoking the competition in the faceoff circle with Larkin winning an Olympic-best 79.1 percent of his draws, Trocheck winning 66.7 and Nelson 61.5.

“I think (assistant coach John Hynes has) done a good job organizing them,” Sullivan said. “I think the guys that have been on it are really buying into it. They pride themselves on that element of our overall team game. One of the things that we’ve tried to do is cast these guys in roles where they know what the expectations are and the contribution that they can make to help us have success. And I think these guys, they can hang their hat on that.”

Nelson and McAvoy trade full cages

For the first time since sustaining a fractured jaw in November after taking a slap shot to the face, McAvoy abandoned the “fishbowl” to protect his face in Tuesday’s practice. He is expected to play without one Wednesday.

McAvoy told The Athletic before the Olympics that he had always planned to take the fishbowl off to start the Olympics, but the hit he took to the jaw from Florida’s Sandis Vilmanis before the tournament meant he’d have to keep on a little longer.

Coincidentally, Nelson suddenly wore a full cage in Tuesday’s practice due to some kind of facial injury sustained.

“Charlie gave him some advice on how to play with it,” Sullivan joked.

Lighter boards attached

As expected, the banners that cover the boards at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena had lighter green areas for Tuesday’s qualifying games. The dark green colors were replaced after the NHL and Team USA pointed out to the IOC that dark colors can affect a goaltender’s ability to see the puck, something that could have affected Jeremy Swayman’s ability when he allowed a goal from beyond center ice against Denmark.

“I know there was discussion. There was discussion about that,” Sullivan said. “Obviously, the dark boards, sometimes it’s hard for the goalies to pick up the puck coming off that. So I know that there was a discussion. How that decision was made, I’m not aware of.”

Lukáš Dostál, who backstopped the Czech Republic to a win over Denmark on Tuesday to advance to the quarterfinals to face Canada, said he didn’t even realize the banners were swapped out.

“In Anaheim, we have really dark seats,” Dostál said. “Some of the NHL rinks, they have dark seats, so the background sometimes — I don’t want to say you lose the puck, but you’ve got to stay focused a little more. Obviously it’s just better for us, for the goalies, (that they changed it).”

Hugheses excited for Mom

Ellen Hughes is a development consultant for the United States women’s hockey team, which plays Canada for the gold medal Thursday. The team is 6-0 in the tournament, has recorded five consecutive shutouts and outscored teams by a combined 31-1.

“I’m excited,” her son Jack Hughes said. “Went to that game (against Sweden in the semifinals) yesterday. Had a lot of fun just watching it. Their team snaps it around pretty good. They got a great team so it should be fun. Hopefully (we’ll) win the quarterfinals, then (brother Quinn and I) can go to that gold medal game.”

While Quinn has been the United States’ most offensive defenseman with four assists, Jack has been solid in a fourth-line role with three points in three games.

“It seems like he’s got the puck on a string,” Matthew Tkachuk said of Jack. “He’s always been an incredible player. Seems like he has the puck each and every shift. He’s really good along the boards and in the D-zone, especially not being a winger. Making that adjustment really easy. He’s an incredible player. Sees the ice so well, skates well just like his brother. He’s been really good for us.”