The men's ice hockey preliminary round officially ended Sunday night, and with its conclusion comes the exciting knockout round of the Olympic tournament.

Here is how the tournament is about the play out, according to NHL 10:

Switzerland – 6
Belarus – 3

Though down only 2-1 after the first period, Belarus ultimately found itself overmatched in this battle with Switzerland.

Switzerland’s superior talent took over in the second period with a string of three unanswered goals, putting the game out of reach at 5-1 after two periods of play.

To their credit, Belarus came out fighting in the third period with a pair of goals to close the gap to 5-3, but the Swiss answered quickly with a clinching goal at the 15:00 mark from Julien Sprunger, lifting the final score to 6-3.

3 Stars

Julien Sprunger (SUI) – 2 goals
Kevin Romy (SUI) – 1 goal, 1 assist
Andrei Kostitsyn (BEL) – 2 goals

Czech Republic – 4
Latvia - 3

The Czech Republic looked to be in control of this game, scoring first and holding on to a 2-1 lead late in the second period, but back-to-back goals right before the intermission had Latvia primed for an upset as they were up 3-2 heading into the third period.

After totaling 10 penalty minutes in the first two periods, the Czech Republic regained their discipline in the final period and stayed out of the penalty box. However, Latvia served heavy time in the sin bin, leading to two third-period, power-play goals from the Czech Republic, who pulled out the 4-3 victory over a gritty Latvian squad.

3 Stars

Martin Erat (CZE) – 1 goal, 1 assist
Herberts Vasiljevs (LAT) – 2 goals
Aleksandrs Nizivijs (LAT) – 2 assists

Slovakia - 2
Norway – 1

On paper, this matchup should have been overwhelmingly in favor of Slovakia, but the Norwegians showed a great deal of fight against a talented Slovakian team.

The first period saw Slovakia racking up an astonishing 17 penalty minutes, which Norway used to take an early 1-0 lead on a power-play goal from Mads Hansen.

But once Slovakia’s players adjusted to the officiating, their talent proved to be too much for Norway at even strength.

Slovakia scored late in the second period to take a 2-1 lead into the second intermission, and neither team could find the net again in a defensive, penalty-less third period.

3 Stars

Marian Gaborik (SVK) – 2 goals
Mads Hansen (NOR) – 1 goal
Peter Budaj (SVK) – 26 saves, 1 goal allowed

Canada – 6
Germany 5

Canada came out looking to rebound from a disappointing 5-3 preliminary round loss to the Americans, and they opened with a pair of early goals by Sidney Crosby and Rick Nash to take a 2-0 lead. A late Canadian penalty led to a power-play goal for Germany. So at the end of the first period: Canada 2 Germany 1.

Canada tried to pull away early in the second period, running off a string of three unanswered goals by Richards, Heatley and Niedermayer, but Germany answered right back with its own three-goal run from Wolf, Sturm and Goc to close the six-goal second period at a tally of Canada 5 Germany 4.

Rick Nash expanded the Canadian lead to 6-4 right at the start of the third. Marcel Goc brought Germany within a goal with four minutes still on the clock, but Germany was unable to pull even with Canada, ultimately falling 6-5.

3 Stars

Rick Nash (CAN) - 2 goals, 1 assist
Jarome Iginla (CAN) - 4 assists
Marcel Goc (GER) – 2 goals, 1 assist

USA – 2
Switzerland - 0

This first quarterfinal on the schedule featured a rematch from the preliminary round, where the USA defeated Switzerland 3-1.

While the United States’ margin of victory remained the same (2 goals), USA goaltender Ryan Miller shutout the Swiss offense in the team's second meeting, clinching a semifinal birth for the United States against the winner of Finland and the Czech Republic.

3 Stars

Ryan Miller (USA) – 26 saves, shutout
Phil Kessel (USA) – 2 assists
Martin Gerber (SUI) – 34 saves, 2 goals allowed

Czech Republic – 5 (OT)
Finland – 4

The game of the tournament (thus far) saw Finland jump out to an early 4-1 lead after one period.

Amazingly, the Czech Republic would not surrender a single goal the rest of the game, coming back to force overtime with only 0:41 to go in the third period.

By that point, momentum was weighted so heavily against Finland that another Czech goal seemed imminent. To no one’s surprise, it took only thirty seconds of overtime to produce the game-winning goal from Czech Republic forward Milan Michalek.

3 Stars

Patrik Elias (CZE) – 1 goal, 3 assists
Milan Michalek (CZE) – game-winning goal, 1 assist
Tuomo Ruutu (FIN) – 2 goals

Sweden – 3
Slovakia - 2

Slovakia looked completely out of this game after going down 2-0 in the first period, but second-period goals by Miroslav Satan and Lubos Bartecko brought the game to a 2-2 tie heading into the final period.

The third period came down to the final minutes, with the deciding goal coming off the stick of Sweden’s Mattias Weinhandl with only 2:03 remaining on the game clock.

3 Stars

Mattias Weinhandl (SWE) – game-winning goal
Magnus Johansson (SWE) – 2 assists
Henrik Lundqvist (SWE) – 32 saves, 2 goals allowed

Canada - 6
Russia – 2

The Canadian scoring machine was in top form against Russia, gunning its way to a 3-0 Canada lead after only one period.

Though a few more goals were exchanged in the second and third periods, Canada never let the Russians within three goals of the lead.

All six Canadian goals were scored by different players, buffering the argument that Canada's roster is deeper and more talented than any other team in the tournament.

Next up for the home team is a trip to the semis against Sweden.

3 Stars

Jarome Iginla (CAN) – 3 assists
Rick Nash (CAN) – 1 goal, 1 assist
Sidney Crosby (CAN) – 1 goal, 1 assist

USA – 6
Czech Republic – 2

With a 1-1 tie after the first period, it looked like this game might go down to the final seconds like Finland/Czech Republic from the quarterfinal round, but Team USA had other ideas when it came out in the second period and turned a 1-1 tie into a 4-2 lead.

A pair of third-period goals from Zach Parise and Jamie Langenbrunner put the USA up for good and clinched the United States’ spot in the gold medal game.

3 Stars

Zach Parise (USA) – 2 goals, 1 assist
Jamie Langenbrunner (USA) – 1 goal, 1 assist
Joe Pavelski (USA) – 1 goal, 1 assist

Sweden - 3
Canada – 0

Though the final score suggests a blowout, the second semifinal was actually a defensive battle most of the way, with both teams going scoreless through two periods.

The floodgates began to open when Sweden’s Mattias Weinhandl scored the game’s first goal on a power play five minutes into third period, and a pair of follow-up goals from Henrik Zetterberg and Samuel Pahlsson helped move Sweden through to face the Americans in the finals.

3 Stars

Henrik Lundqvist (SWE) – 32 saves, shutout
Mattias Weinhandl (SWE) – 1 goal
Henrik Zetterberg (SWE) – 1 goal

Canada - 4
Czech Republic – 1

They may not have been able to "own" the podium, but at least the Canadian hockey team was able to make it there.

With Canada scoring the game’s first three goals, the outcome was never in doubt. Either way, it was a bittersweet victory for a country that had its heart set on gold, not bronze.

3 Stars

Scott Niedermayer (CAN) – 2 goals
Patrick Marleau (CAN) – 1 goal, 1 assist
Martin Brodeur (CAN) – 29 saves, 2 goals allowed

Sweden - 4
USA – 3

The tournament’s top two goalies squared off in a gold medal game that featured more offense than either side expected.

Sweden scored first, with forward Daniel Alfredsson putting home the only goal of the first period.

The second period saw four goals total, the first three coming from the USA, including back-to-back goals by US forward Ryan Malone.

But a goal late in the second period from forward Loui Eriksson gave the Swedes life heading in to the final period, down only 3-2.

The Swedes continued their tournament-long flair for late goals, scoring the tying and go-ahead goals within two minutes of each other, leaving the USA down one goal with four minutes to play.

As he had done all tournament long, Henrik Lundqvist stood tall during a late flurry from the USA to seal the gold medal for Sweden.

3 Stars

Tomas Holmstrom (SWE) – 1 goal, 1 assist
Ryan Malone (USA) – 2 goals
Henrik Lundqvist (SWE) – 34 saves, 3 goals allowed

Gold: Sweden

Silver: United States

Bronze: Canada


Will team Canada flop their way out of the final? Can the USA continue its underdog run into the gold medal game? Find out this week when the Olympic tournament resumes coverage on the NBC family of networks.