Slovakia Shuts Out Germany to Advance to Quarterfinal

Slovakia had as perfect of a qualification game as you could ask for, eliminating the reigning silver medalists with a 4-0 win on Tuesday.

Slovakia will meet up with the United States in the quarter-final round on Wednesday. USA beat Slovakia 2-1 back in 2014 in group play before both teams failed to make it into medal contention.

The damage began at 11:05 in the first. Libor Hudacek's shot was originally stopped by Mathias Niederberger, but the puck bounced off a German defender in front and in for the 1-0 goal. 

Then, at 27:01, Peter Cehlarik's shot beat Neiderberger cleanly after sustained pressure on a power-play chance with more room with players off with penalties on both sides. 

Michael Kristof scored just shortly after the German power play ended, with the German attacker not making it back into the play to make it a true 5-on-5 as Slovakia escaped to a 3-0 lead before the halfway point of the game. Germany couldn't muster anything late in the game and Martin Hrivik would score the 4-0 empty-netter to finish the game and move on to the next round of the playoffs.