How Panthers fared in Olympics group stage. And a look at the rest of the schedule
Seven of the 10 Florida Panthers taking part in the 2026 Winter Olympics are guaranteed a spot in the quarterfinal round of the men’s hockey tournament, putting them one win away from playing for a medal in Italy.
Canada, the United States, Slovakia and Finland are the top four seeds in the 12-team field after pool play, which gives them a bye from the play-in round of the tournament.
Canada and Finland each have three Panthers players on their rosters — Sam Bennett, Brad Marchand and Sam Reinhart for Canada; Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen and Niko Mikkola for Finland — while Matthew Tkachuk is on the United States’ roster.
As for the other three Panthers — Gustav Forsling on Sweden, Uvis Balinskis and Sandis Vilmanis on Latvia — their paths to compete for a medal include a game against each other on Tuesday to face the United States in the quarterfinal round.
Here’s a full breakdown of where things stand in the tournament overall and for the 10 Panthers now that pool play is complete.
Standings
1.) Canada
2.) United States
3.) Slovakia
4.) Finland
5.) Switzerland
6.) Germany
7.) Sweden
8.) Czechia
9.) Denmark
10.) Latvia
11.) France
12.) Italy
How Florida Panthers fared in pool play
Canada
-Sam Reinhart has one assist and five shots on goal while averaging just over 12-and-a-half minutes of ice time per game for Canada.
-Sam Bennett has gotten minimal time for Canada, playing an average of just nine minutes per game in pool play. He has one assist and four shots on goal.
-Brad Marchand only played in Canada’s tournament opener thus far and logged an assist in that game, a 5-0 win over Czechia. Team Canada coach Jon Cooper said Marchand will be back in the lineup for the team’s quarterfinal game.
United States
-Matthew Tkachuk leads the Americans and is second overall in the tournament with five assists. He had two assists in the 5-1 tournament-opening win against Latvia, a third in the 6-3 win over Denmark on Saturday and then two more on Sunday in a 5-1 win against Germany.
Finland
-Anton Lundell scored a goal in Finland’s 4-1 win over Sweden on Friday and centered arguably Finland’s most productive line in their first two games before sitting out their pool-play finale — an 11-0 win against Italy — with illness.
-Eetu Luostarinen has three assists and has a plus-minus rating of plus-5.
-Niko Mikkola has three assists, tied for second-most among defensemen through pool play, and has a plus-minus rating of plus-7 that is tied for third in the tournament.
Latvia
-Uvis Balinskis has an assist while leading Latvia and ranking third in the tournament in average ice time per game (24:58).
-Sanids Vilmanis has six shots on goal while playing on Latvia’s top forward line.
Sweden
-Gustav Forsling scored a goal in Sweden’s 5-2 win against Italy on Wednesday and is averaging just over 19-and-a-half minutes of ice time per game.
Remaining men’s hockey schedule for Olympics
Play-in round, Tuesday
-No. 5 Switzerland vs. No. 12 Italy, 6:10 a.m.
-No. 6 Germany vs. No. 11 France, 6:10 a.m.
-No. 8 Czechia vs. No. 9 Denmark, 10:40 a.m.
-No. 7 Sweden vs. No. 10 Latvia (the only matchup of the day featuring Panthers players), 3:10 p.m.
Quarterfinals, Wednesday
-No. 3 Slovakia vs. Germany/France winner, 6:10 a.m.
-No. 1 Canada vs. Czechia/Denmark winner, 10:40 a.m.
-No. 4 Finland vs. No. Switzerland/Italy winner, 12:10 p.m.
-No. 2 United States vs. Sweden/Latvia winner, 3:10 p.m.
Semifinals, Friday (game times TBD)
-Highest remaining seed vs. Lowest remaining seed
-Second-highest remaining seed vs. Third-highest remaining seed
Bronze medal game, 2:40 p.m. Saturday
-Semifinal losers
Gold medal game, 8:10 a.m. Sunday
-Semifinal winners
This story was originally published February 15, 2026 at 6:05 PM.
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