Adrian Kempe and Team Sweden are looking to advance to the Quarter-Finals as they face off against Latvia.
Monday was a day off for all nations as everyone prepared for their playoff-round games. On Day 4, Sweden faced Team Slovakia and won 5-3, but a late goal by Dalibor Dvorsky gave Slovakia the goal differential to win Group B and drop Sweden to 3rd. Kempe had 2 points (1 goal, 1 assist) in that game and ended the preliminary round with 1 goal and 2 assists for 3 points in 3 games.
Quarter-Final Matchup: Latvia Vs Sweden
Sweden vs Latvia is the last game of the playoff round, starting at 3:00 P.M ET (9:00 P.M local). Sweden enters this matchup with a 2-0-0-1 record, while Latvia comes in with a 1-0-0-2 record. Adrian Kempe played a big role in Team Sweden's last game, and with his goal coming on the power play, we should see him get plenty of ice time against Latvia.
While it is unknown who Latvia's starting goaltender will be, whether it is Arturs Silovs or Elvis Merzlikins, Kempe, along with his other NHL Swedish teammates, has played against them in regular NHL games. This season, Kempe has not yet faced Elvis Merzlikins, but he has faced Arturs Silovs, against whom he fired 5 shots without scoring. But with Sweden the favourite to win this game, Kempe is looking to either get his revenge on Silovs or get his first of the season against Merzlikins.
The winner of this game will then face Team USA in the Quarter-Final. Kempe has been playing for Team Sweden for some time; in his game against Finland, he logged 21:24 minutes of ice time. In the game against Italy, he logged 16:13 minutes on ice. With Kempe in the top 6 and on the power play, I would expect him to play a significant role in a win-or-go-home game against Latvia.