The men's Olympic hockey quarterfinals are set to begin Wednesday, with the four favorites - Sweden, the US, Canada, and Russia - all qualified and looking to bring gold to their respective countries.

Slovenia, making their first Olympic appearance after getting past Belarus, Ukraine and Denmark to earn a berth in the Sochi Games, upset Austria 4-0 in Tuesday's qualification playoff to advance to the quarterfinals. Slovenian G Robert Kristan made 30 saves to shutout the Austrian squad while Los Angeles Kings C and former Stanley Cup winner Anze Kopitar, one of only two players on the team with National Hockey League (NHL) experience, scored during a power play in the first period to help propel Slovenia into the next round.

"Let's say it is a miracle because this is really amazing," said Robert Kristan, who plays for HK Nitra of the Slovenia's hockey league. "Small Slovenia, playing in the quarterfinal of the Olympic Games?"

Slovenia will face top-ranked Sweden, the only squad that stayed undefeated throughout the preliminary round despite an injury to Henrik Zetterberg that will keep him out of the rest of the tournament. The Swedes are led by a core of players - Detroit Red Wings Daniel Alfredsson and Niklas Kronwall, Vancouver Canucks Daniel Sedin, and NewYork Ranger Henrik Lundqvist - that won gold in the 2006 Winter Olympics.

Lundqvist has been spectacular, posting a .936 save percentage as one of a handful of goaltender to started all three preliminary round games, and is expected to play despite a collision with D Erik Karlsson during Monday's practice.

"We play good defensively," said Slovenia F Jan Mursak assessing their match-up against Sweden. "We shut their power play down and if we battle with them, I think it's going to be an interesting game."

Russia, who was forced to play in the qualification playoff on Tuesday, battered Norway around beating them 4-0, though the game was closer than it appeared. Russia has played tense in front of their Sochi home crowd, who expects the team to win their first gold medal in 22 years. Columbus Blue Jackets G Sergei Bobrovsky started for the Russians in front of the net, making 22 saves against Norway in his second straight shutout Olympic victory. CSKA Moscow's Alexander Radulov led the way offensively notching two goals and an assist in the game.

Considering the bumpy tournament start and the pressure to win gold for the host country for the Russians, Alex Ovechkin understands the urgency as they head into their match-up against Finland, a team loaded with options at the goaltender with Kari Lehtonen of the Dallas Stars, Antti Niemi of the San Jose Sharks, and Tuukka Rask of the Boston Bruins on the roster.

Finland defeated Austria and Norway in the preliminary round while losing 2-1 to Canada to earn a bye into the quarterfinals.

"It is do-or-die games right now," said the Washington Capitals captain. "We don't have much time to prepare but I'm pretty sure everybody on Finland is going to be ready, and we're going to be ready as well."

Canada enters the tournament as the defending Olympic champions having beaten Norway (3-1), crushing Austria 6-0, and defeating Finland 2-1 in overtime, earning a bye into the quarterfinals. Coach Mike Babcock is going with Montreal Canadien G Carey Price over Vancouver Canuck Roberto Luongo, who helped Canada win he gold in Vancouver four years ago.

Canada faces Latvia, who went winless in the preliminary round before upseting a Swiss team they had lost to in their opening game of the tournament. KHL's Oskars Bartulis of HC Donbass and Lauris Darzins of Traktor Chelyabinsk scored in the first period to put Latvia ahead early, with G Edgars Masalskis of HK Poprad making 32 saves in the game to put his team into the quarterfinals.

The Czech Republic heads into the next phase of the tourney having suffered a bit of a scare after fending off Slovakia in the qualification playoffs. The Czechs built a 4-0 lead in the second period before Slovakia came storming back to pull within a goal before the Czech Republic's Tomas Plekanec scored an empty-netter, taking advantage of Slovakia's Andrej Meszaros sloppy penalty for slashing penalty with 53 seconds left.

The Czech Republic plays Team USA in the quarterfinals, whose confidence is riding skyhigh after St. Louis Blues T.J. Oshie made 4 of 6 shot attempts in the shootout against Russia. The Americans will continue to go with Los Angeles Kings G Jonathan Quick, who has started the last three games over the 2010 Vancouver Games starter Buffalo Sabres Ryan Miller.

'It will be a tough game, but at this point in the tournament there's no easy games so anyone can win against anybody,'' said Edmonton Oilers and Czech Republic F Ales Hemsky.

Live Stream, Schedule & Scores
Coverage of Sweden vs. Slovenia will start 3:00 a.m. ET on NBC Sports. Coverage of Finland vs. Russia will start at 7:30 a.m. ET on NBC Sports. Coverage of Canada vs. Latvia will start at 12:00 p.m. on MSNBC. Coverage of USA vs. Czech Repulic will start at 12:00 p.m. on USA Network while live streaming feed will be available on NBC Extra. Scores, statistics and updates are available on ESPN Sports.