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All participating LA Kings at the 2026 Winter Olympics have advanced to the quarterfinals, which places them one step away from the medal round.

The only member of the Kings who played yesterday was forward Adrian Kempe, who scored the game-opening goal in his team’s 5-1 victory earlier today over Team Latvia. With the victory, Team Sweden advanced to the quarterfinals to set up a marquee matchup against Team USA, coming tomorrow as the final matchup of the day.

Kempe’s participation means that everyone with the Kings who is still at the Olympics sees their teams advance to the quarterfinals.

The first matchup of the day is between Slovakia and Germany, with no members of the Kings organization in action in the opener. Defenseman Drew Doughty and goaltender Darcy Kuemper will play in the second quarterfinals matchup at 7:40 AM Pacific, taking on Czechia for the second time in the tournament. The Canadians skated to a 5-0 victory in Group A, their first game at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Doughty has played in all three games thus far and is expected to play again, likely skating in a second or third pairing role alongside defenseman Thomas Harley of the Dallas Stars, where he has logged most of his minutes until this point. Kuemper has served as the backup goaltender once, against Team Switzerland, but has not seen any game action.

The third matchup, which will overlap slightly with the Canada/Czechia game, will square off what would have been two members of the Kings organization on opposite benches as Team Finland takes on Team Switzerland. Forward Joel Armia will certainly be in action, as he brings a strong performance from the group stage into tomorrow’s matchup in the quarterfinals. Armia was tied for the team lead in scoring with four points (2-2-4) in three games played, which helped Finland secure the fourth and final bye directly to the quarterfinals. Armia and Team Finland would have been in line to take on forward Kevin Fiala, though Fiala’s tournament came to an end after he suffered a lower-leg injury against Team Canada, which will also cost him the remainder of the NHL’s regular season. Should Team Switzerland win, it would be guaranteed to play for a medal, which Fiala would receive should they win one.

Finally, the “late” game, which begins just after noon Pacific time, squares off Team Sweden and Team USA in the final matchup of the quarterfinals. This is a game you’d have expected to see one or maybe even two rounds later. Two of the top three medal favorites entering the tournament, both Sweden and the United States were expected to top their groups and likely secure a bye. That happened as expected for the United States, including Kings goaltending coach Mike Buckley, who is a part of the staff in Milan. It did not happen for Kempe and Team Sweden, which finished third on goal differential and was required to play in yesterday’s qualification playoffs. Puts Team Sweden at a slight disadvantage with the back-to-back but it also seems like the Swedes are starting to hit their stride after a slower start to the tournament. An exciting matchup today, with two of the tournament’s heavy hitters squaring off. Winner advances to the medal round with a favorable matchup in the semifinals, while the loser sees their Olympics come to a close earlier than expected. Great way to end the day with what should be the best matchup of the day.

Kings Quarterfinals Schedule
Canada (Doughty, Kuemper) vs. Czechia at 7:40 AM Pacific
Finland (Armia) vs. Switzerland at 9:10 AM Pacific
Sweden (Kempe) vs. United States at 12:10 PM Pacific

All games in the quarterfinals will be broadcast on Peacock with select games also broadcast live on NBC and USA Network in the United States. Expecting the United States/Sweden game to be carried on NBC, while the Canada/Czechia game will be on USA Network, as well as possibly the end of the Finland/Switzerland game, after the first game ends.

The medal round begins with the semifinals on Friday, February 20, with both semifinal matchups occurring on that day, one at 7:40 AM Pacific and the second at 12:10 PM Pacific. The bronze-medal game is scheduled for the following day, Saturday, February 21, at 11:40 AM Pacific. The gold-medal game is scheduled for Sunday, February 22 at 5:10 AM Pacific. As it becomes clearer how many members of the Kings organization will participate at that stage of the tournament, will share full matchup information, which won’t become apparent until tomorrow afternoon.

Photo by Stefano Guidi/Getty Images