USA! USA! USA!

Wow. What a performance by Ryan Miller and Team USA to beat Canada 5-3 in regulation. If you missed the game, you might be able to watch it here. If you're able to figure out NBC's crazy log-in system, then you'll be treated to one of the best hockey games you'll ever see. It's a shame the majority of America probably missed it because NBC was showing Ice Dancing instead.

At any rate, here's a look at the standings in the tournament and some scenarios for tonight's game between Sweden and Finland.

Group A

1/2. USA - 9 points (+9)

6. Canada - 5 points (+7)

8. Switzerland - 3 points (-2)

10. Norway - 1 points (-14)

Group B

3. Russia - 7 points (+7)

4/5. Czech Rep - 6 points (+3)

7. Slovakia - 5 points (+5)

12. Latvia - 0 points (-15)

Group C

Finland - 6 points (+9)

Sweden - 6 points (+4)

9. Belarus - 3 points (-4)

11. Germany - 0 points (-9)

Here's the first round matchups that are locked in stone:

#6 Canada v. #11 Germany

#7 Slovakia v. #10 Norway

#8 Switzerland v. #9 Belarus

Latvia will play the #5 seed, which will either be Sweden, Finland, or the Czech Republic. More on this below.

And now to look at how things will shake out depending on tonight's games:

If Finland wins in regulation

Since Finland and the US both have a +9 Goal Differential, a win by Finland in regulation would give them 9 points and increase their goal differential, making them the #1 seed in the tournament. If Finland wins by more than 2, the Czech Republic would get the #4 seed and the final bye. If Finland wins by 1, the Czechs and Swedes would be tied with 6 points and a +3 goal differential. I'm not sure what the next tiebreaker is.

If Sweden wins in regulation

This would give Sweden 9 points. Since Sweden's goal differential is only+4 right now, they would need to win by 5 to get into a tie with the US for the #1 overall seed. If Sweden wins by 4 or less, they will be the #2 seed and the US will be the #1 seed. Additionally, Finland would get the #4 seed if Sweden wins by less than 6 goals, based on goal differential against the Czech Republic. If Sweden wins by more than 6, the Czechs will be the #4 seed and get the last bye.

If the game goes to overtime

If the game goes to overtime, the US will be the #1 overall seed because the winner will only get 2 points and finish with 8 rather than 9. In this case, the winner of the game would be the #2 seed and the loser would be the #4 seed and get the extra bye, pushing the Czech Republic back to the opening round.

Did that all make sense? If not, here's a picture of the bracket to try to make things a little clearer:

Now, what does all this mean for the US? A bye to the quarterfinals means that we are two wins away from a medal, three away from Gold. In order to get to the medal round, we will need to win our first round game. After that is the semi-finals, in which the winners go to play for Gold and the losers play in the Bronze medal game.

How important is it that the US get the #1 seed? Very. You might not think it's all that important, but look at the bottom half of the bracket. Russia is the #3 seed and Canada is the #6 seed, which means they will probably face off in the quarterfinals. If the US is the #2 seed, we would probably have to play Slovakia in the quarterfinals (bring back the Marian Hossa hate) and then the winner of the Canada/Russia game just to get to the Gold Medal game.

On the other side of the bracket, things look a bit easier. The #1 seed will get a quarterfinal game against either Switzerland or Belarus, a much easier opponent than Slovakia. After that, to get to the Gold Medal game, we would have to play the winner of the 4-5 matchup (unless 12th seed Latvia shocks the world), which would be the Czechs against either Sweden or Finland. Based on what we've seen in the tournament so far, the top half of the bracket offers a much better path to the Gold Medal game than the bottom half, which will be stacked with Russia, Canada, Slovakia, and the winner of tonight's Sweden-Finland game.