For the stunning Olympic-opening upset loss to Slovenia and all the outcry that came with it, the U.S. men's hockey team hasn't lost the ability to determine its own future.

As part of a oddly erratic Group B round robin, Team USA beat Slovakia, which upset the Olympic Athletes from Russia, which defeated Slovenia. Such unpredictable results truncated the standings, and the Americans enter their final preliminary contest versus the Russians in first place (four points).


A win Saturday by the U.S. locks down a bye in the single-elimination stage, ensuring a top-three seed and thus an easier three-game road to the medal round rather than four.



If we've learned a lesson from the first two games, though, it's that nothing should be assumed in a tournament without NHL players. After all, OAR, for all its faults, entered Pyeongchang as gold-medal favorites, something a single slip-up against Slovakia doesn't change. The Russians throttled Slovenia 8-2 on Thursday and seem to be back on track. Their speed and scoring prowess should scare the U.S. and starting goalie Ryan Zapolski, who has looked shaky at times so far in the tournament.


Slovenia and Slovakia employed a slog-it-out strategy while up against superior talents. The U.S. may need to take a page out of that playbook to stall the Russians, who boast four scoring lines led by Ilya Kovalchuk and Pavel Datsyuk. Kirill Kaprizov, a 20-year-old Wild prospect, leads the entire tournament with four goals after his hat trick Thursday.
For the first time, the U.S. is the underdog in this matchup and the group is still up for grabs.


Slovenia and Slovakia also meet head to head Saturday. The winner of USA-Russia likely will take the group, but a Slovakia victory and U.S. loss would leave the Americans in third place, out of the running for a bye, and headed for a likely meeting with Sweden, Finland or Canada before medals are at stake. That's less than ideal.
Sporting News is providing live scoring updates and highlights from the game. Follow along below. (All times Eastern.)

USA vs. Russia live score, updates

Time: 7:10 a.m. ET
Location: Gangneung Hockey Centre
TV: NBCSN
Streaming: fuboTV (sign up for a 7-day free trial)