The rubber meets the road during the qualifying playoffs of the men's hockey tournament at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 on Tuesday. It's the start of three rounds of elimination games in four days that will determine which teams advance to the semifinals and have a shot to medal.

The lineups for the 2026 Winter Olympics men's hockey tournament will be star-studded with the return of NHL players.

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No. 5 Switzerland against No. 12 Italy, No. 8 Czechia vs. No. 9 Denmark among Tuesday matchups

The time between periods will be slightly shorter at the Olympics, with a break of only 15 minutes compared to 18 minutes in the NHL. For viewers, this difference will hardly be noticeable, but it could be a slight inconvenience for players with deeply-engrained intermission routines.

The NHL Winter Olympics break runs from February 6 to February 24. This two-week break will give players the chance to reset and allow any ailments to heal. Of course, there are many players partaking in the Milano Cortina

Aerin Frankel stopped 21 shots for her third shutout of the Olympic women’s hockey tournament and the favored United States advanced to the gold-medal game by defeating Sweden 5-0 at the Milan Cortina