The competition exists out of a single round-robin, each team playing another once, with a team gaining three points for a win, two points for a win after overtime, and one point for a loss after overtime. The top two ranked teams of group A advance to the semifinals, while the lower two ranked teams of the group advance to the quarterfinals, together with the two best-ranked teams of group B. The quarterfinals, semifinals, and final are based on a single head-to-head match. The winner of the final wins the event.
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Eight teams qualified for the event, with Canada and the United States as the top favorites, having competed in the final in the previous few occasions. Finland and the Olympic Athletes from Russia were also drawn in group A, as the big medal contenders, while Switzerland had won the bronze medal in Sochi. With such a small field, Sweden, Japan, and the combined team of Korea also had chances to contend for a medal.
Finland
United States
Canada
Olympic Athletes from Russia
Japan
Sweden
Switzerland
Korea
