Slovakia lost, but they won.<\/p>\n
Two San Jose Sharks players, Pavol Regenda of Slovakia and Alex Wennberg of Sweden, faced off in a Saturday round-robin finale to help determine Group B supremacy.<\/p>\n
2-1-0 Sweden won 5-3, but because of a last-minute Dalibor Dvorsky goal and a Finland victory over Italy, 2-1-0 Slovakia won Group B. Slovakia, Sweden, and Finland all finished Group B action with a 2-1-0 record, but Slovakia won the group with the best goal differential<\/p>\n
This means that Slovakia, along with Group A\u2019s Canada, will not have to play a Qualification Playoff game on Feb. 17. Both nations, along with Group C winner, likely the United States, and the best No. 2 team of the three groups, likely Finland, can go straight to the Feb. 18 quarterfinal.<\/p>\n
Pavel Regenda<\/p>\n
The San Jose Sharks\u2019 power forward winger skated 12:45, registering three shots on goal.<\/p>\n
He was almost part of a Slovakia goal near the end of the first period. Regenda\u2019s shot eluded Jacob Markstrom, and the puck nearly crossed the goal line, before a Markstrom glove snatched it away.<\/p>\n
A Regenda kneeing penalty led to Sweden\u2019s second goal, an Adrian Kempe strike. His net front presence also helped Slovakia tie the game shortly thereafter, off a Martin Gernat score.<\/p>\n
Alex Wennberg<\/p>\n
The San Jose Sharks\u2019 second-line center has a different role with Sweden, doing yeoman\u2019s work as their 4C.<\/p>\n
Wennberg played 10:41, had a shot, and was on the ice for a Juraj Slafkovsky goal, which came right after a Slovak PP.<\/p>\n
Because Sweden finished third in Group B, they\u2019re going to have a harder path to medal. Assuming Sweden wins its Qualification Playoff match on Feb. 17, it looks like they\u2019ll square off with Group A\u2019s Canada or Group C\u2019s United States in a quarterfinal contest for the ages.<\/p>\n
Other Sharks\u2026<\/p>\n
Both Group A\u2019s Canada and Switzerland, starring San Jose Sharks\u2019 Macklin Celebrini and Philipp Kurashev, respectively, will finish round-robin play on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Another Olympian, the Golden State Warriors\u2019 Steph Curry, is watching Celebrini closely<\/a>.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a fun fan-Celebrini encounter!<\/p>\n Switzerland faces off at Czechia at 3:10 AM PT and Canada will try to run up the score on France at 7:40 AM PT. Overall goal differential is a key tiebreaker after the round-robin portion of the tourney, so it would behoove the Canadians to add to their best among the Group leaders\u2019 +9. This will also help them avoid Sweden in the quarterfinal.<\/p>\n A namorada de Philipp Kurashev usando a jaqueta das WAGs do Time da Su\u00ed\u00e7a \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udded pic.twitter.com\/LumPWXgekz<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 acervo sj sharks (@acervosharks) February 14, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n The Athletic has a solid primer on how seeding works for men\u2019s ice hockey at the Olympics<\/a>.<\/p>\n Also on Saturday, the Americans topped Denmark 6-3 and Latvia upset Germany 4-3.<\/p>\n Group C will also finish round-robin action tomorrow: Denmark takes on Latvia at 10:10 AM PT and the US battles Germany at 12:10 PM PT.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t