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Already guaranteed the best Olympic curling medal in United States history, John Shuster and the Americans will look to complete their astounding run in Pyeongchang when they take on No. 1 seed Sweden in the men’s gold medal game.
In the United States, the game starts early Saturday morning at 1:35 a.m. ET (on the West coast, it’s Friday night at 10:35 p.m. PT) and will be broadcast on NBC Sports Network. If you don’t have cable or a cable log-in, you can watch a live stream of the game on your computer, phone or streaming device by signing up for a free trial of one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services:
FuboTV: NBCSN is included in the “Fubo Premier” channel package. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial, and you can then watch NBCSN live on your computer via the FuboTV website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the FuboTV app.
DirecTV Now: NBCSN is included in each of DirecTV Now’s four main channel packages. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial no matter what package you choose, plus you can get a free Amazon Fire TV if you prepay two months. Once signed up, you can watch NBCSN live on your computer via the DirecTV Now website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the DirecTV Now app.
Sling TV: NBCSN is included in the “Sling Blue” channel package. You can sign up for a free 7-day trial, and you can then watch NBCSN live on your computer via the Sling TV website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Sling TV app.
Hulu With Live TV: If you want an extensive Netflix-like on-demand streaming library in addition to your live TV, Hulu now also offers a bundle of live channels, including NBC Sports Network. You can sign up right here, and you can then watch a live stream of NBCSN on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the Hulu app.
In addition to being able to watch the NBCSN simulcast via the above streaming services, you can also watch the game live (or a replay of the game if you miss it live) on your computer via NBCOlympics.com, or on your phone, tablet or streaming device via the NBC Sports app. To watch this stream, you’ll have a 30-minute free preview before needing to sign in to your TV provider, but you can use your DirecTV Now, FuboTV, Sling TV or Hulu credentials to do that.
Preview
After taking bronze in Turin in 2006, which marked the first Olympic curling medal in the country’s history, the United States men’s team finished last in 2010 and second-to-last in 2014. It appeared they were headed for a similar finish at this year’s tournament when they were 2-4 and staring at a matchup against Canada, the back-to-back-to-back defending Olympic gold medalists.
But a switch turned on for the Americans, who knocked off Canada for the first time in their Olympic history, and then followed it up with dominant performances against Switzerland (8-4) and Great Britain (10-4) to vault to third place following the conclusion of round robin play. That booked a rematch against Canada in the semifinals, which the Americans were able to win thanks to a clutch two-point steal in the eighth end after the Canadians had purposefully blanked in the sixth and seventh ends to keep the hammer in the eighth.
“We really try to develop a field of play,” American skip John Shuster said. “Our team motto is basicaly when we get half shots and misses we capitalize and that’s something we did today.”
In the gold medal game, the United States will meet Sweden, who have mostly steamrolled through this tournament. Niklas Edin’s team went 7-2 during round robin play, which included a 10-4 win over the United States a week ago, and then crushed Switzerland, 9-3, in the semifinals.
The United States will once again be the underdog, but that hasn’t been a problem lately.
“I think we are going to play even better, because there’s no pressure of ‘what if we get fourth?’ ‘what if we walk away with nothing?’” Team USA’s John Landsteiner said. “With that pressure gone and the desire to get gold over the silver – I’m excited for what that game is going to be like.”
