The Matthews–Nylander matchup is locked in, here’s the date and start time
A William Nylander and Auston Matthews matchup is on the horizon, so here's when they are set to face off and what time you can catch all the action.
It looks like a Maple Leafs quarterfinals match as William Nylander and Team Sweden advanced to face Auston Matthews and Team USA after defeating Latvia 5-1.
Nylander had a goal and an assist during the contest, and it will be a battle of teammates (with Oliver Ekman-Larsson in tow as well) when the two face off on Wednesday at 3:10 PM ET.
Although Latvia gave a good effort, they were unable to withstand the likes of Gabriel Landeskog, Mika Zibanejad and Nylander, meanwhile Jacob Markstrom was rock solid.
Though teammates the majority of the season, Auston Matthews and William Nylander are going to be heated rivals if only for a game, as the two are set to clash during the 2026 Olympics.
Sweden had a bit of a tough time during the games, meanwhile Matthews and the Americans ended up going undefeated and set their course for the quarterfinals, and Nylander has a chance to join him.
Nylander has one roadblock ahead of potential matchup with Auston Matthews
That was depending on one crucial factor -- Sweden's ability to beat Latvia on Tuesday which they did so handily.
Due to the seedings and rankings from the preliminary rounds, Sweden needs to face Latvia in the play-off round first in order to punch their ticket to the quarterfinals, at which point they will be facing the US squad.
Nylander was asked ahead of the game (in English) about the potential of facing his teammate in the quarterfinals and he simply acknowledged he had business to take care of first:
We have to play Latvia first.
It's good to see Nylander not taking this next game for granted and he ready to do some damage -- and that he did with two points and looking like a focal point against the Americans on Wednesday.
Nylander moves on, but you couldn't count out the underdog
You can't count out the Latvians as they tend to play spoiler a lot of the time, and hold some pretty solid talent like Elvis Merzlikins, Alberts Smits and Zemgus Girgensons.
Although Latvia finished fourth in their group, Sweden came third in theirs and only had a plus-2 goal differential -- worse than Finland; who really wanted to stick it to their rivals with a 4-1 win against them, then an 11-0 shellacking of Italy to leapfrog the Swedes.
Matthews has been outstanding so far with five points in three games (3 goals, 2 assists) meanwhile Nylander has four points in four games (2 goals, 2 assists) so the captain holds the statistical advantage between the two still.
As Nylander and Matthews face off, it's likely that the US squad will come out on top, though if Jeremy Swayman lets in another 100-foot goal then things might end up a little different; both teams goalies haven't exactly been lights out this tournament.
It will be a matchup for the ages. Will Nylander end up besting Matthews in an upset? Or will the captain of both Team USA and the Maple Leafs reign supreme?
We don't have to wait long to find out.
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| POLL | ||
FEVRIER 16|902 ANSWERS The Matthews–Nylander matchup is locked in, here’s the date and start time Who do you think will win the matchup of William Nylander and Auston Matthews? | ||
| William Nylander | 458 | 50.8 % |
| Auston Matthews | 444 | 49.2 % |
| List of polls | ||