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Heart rates soared in Milan and across the United States, but the Americans survived in their quest for men’s hockey gold.
Quinn Hughes of the Minnesota Wild scored in overtime to give Team USA a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Sweden on Wednesday, advancing them to the men’s Olympic hockey semifinals.
Both goaltenders posted shutouts midway through the game, but with just under nine minutes left in the second period, Jack Hughes’ wrist shot was deflected by Dylan Larkin and put in by Hughes’ New Jersey Devils teammate Jakob Markstrom to put the Stars and Stripes up 1-0.
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Quinn Hughes of Team United celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal in overtime during the men’s quarterfinal playoff match between the United States and Sweden on Day 12 of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics at the Milan Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on February 18, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
The Swedes were buzzing in the third period, all while the Americans were somewhat neutralized. But they were unable to get the puck in the back of the net, including a shot from Adrian Kempe that went off the post with about 2:30 left.
Sweden pulled Markstrom with about 100 seconds left, and 10 seconds later they finally scored when Mika Zibanejad ripped a one-timer from Lucas Raymond to tie the game. Connor Hellyebuck had stopped 28 shots up to that point, but the game went to a 3-on-3, 10-minute sudden overtime.
USA’s Quinn Hughes celebrates after scoring the winning goal against Sweden in overtime of a men’s ice hockey quarterfinal at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
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The U.S. couldn’t connect on its first five shots of overtime, but in the sixth, Hughes rang one off the inside of the post that crossed the line to give the Americans the victory.
The Americans take on Slovakia, while Canada, who narrowly escaped being upset by the Czech Republic earlier Thursday, take on Finland. Both Canada and Finland came back from deficits to win in overtime.
Out of the four games played on Thursday, three of them went into overtime.
Quinn Hughes of Team United celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal in overtime during the Men’s Quarterfinal Playoff match between USA and Sweden on Day 12 of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics at the Milan Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on February 18, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
The semi-final round will be played on Friday, with the times for each match to be announced. The winners of each game will go back to work on Sunday, the 46th anniversary of the “Miracle on Ice,” for the gold medal game.
