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Heart rates spiked 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 2-1 victory over Sweden on Wednesday, advancing them to the Olympic men’s hockey semifinals.
Both goalies 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 it was tipped in by Hughes’ New Jersey Devils teammate Jakob Markstrom to give the Stars and Stripes a 1-0 lead.
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Quinn Hughes of Team USA celebrates with his 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 Olympic Games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on February 18, 2026, in Milan, Italy. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
The Swedes were in turmoil in the third period, while the Americans were somewhat neutralized. But they couldn’t put the puck in the back of the net, including a shot by Adrian Kempe that went off the post with about 2:30 left.
Sweden pulled Markstrom with about 100 seconds left, and 10 seconds later it 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 into a sudden 3-on-3 10-minute overtime.
Quinn Hughes of the United States celebrates after scoring the winning goal against Sweden during the overtime period 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 United States failed to score on its first five shots of overtime, but on the sixth shot, Hughes fired a shot inside the post that crossed the line to give the Americans the victory.
The Americans will face Slovakia, while Canada, which narrowly escaped being upset by the Czech Republic earlier Thursday, will face Finland. Canada and Finland rallied from deficits to win in overtime.
Of the four games played on Thursday, three of them went to overtime.
Quinn Hughes of Team USA celebrates with his 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 Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on February 18, 2026, in Milan, Italy. (Grégory Shamus/Getty Images)
The semi-final will be played on Friday, with times for each match to be announced. The winners of each game will return to work Sunday, the 46th anniversary of “Miracle on Ice,” for the gold medal game.
