Team USA battles Sweden in OT and advances to semifinals

MILAN (AP) — When the U.S. gave up the equalizer to Sweden with 91 seconds left in the quarterfinals at the Olympic Gameseven the most seasoned players were tense.

“That’s as nervous as I’ve ever been in a hockey game,” Dylan Larkin said.

When Canada trailed the Czech Republic with less than four minutes to go, guys with gold medals and Stanley Cup rings started feeling butterflies.

“I never had any doubts, but it got a little nerve-wracking,” Drew Doughty said.

After a lot of nerves, the US and Canada advance to the semi-finals, although it took a rollercoaster of emotions to get there.

Quinn Hughes scored in extra time to put the US past Sweden 2-1 after Mika Zibanejad tied the score late on.

“Just relief,” Hughes said.

Earlier Wednesday, Nick Suzuki tied the score for Canada late in regulation against the Czech Republic Mitch Marner won the match in extra time 4-3 to avoid what would have been a stunning early exit.

“It was just all relief,” Canadian Macklin Celebrini said after scoring three minutes into the game and then assisting on Marner’s goal. “It was a weight off our shoulders.”

Finland also escaped an upset bid by rallying to beat Switzerland 3-2 in OT. Sweden heads home early after a tournament that didn’t go as planned for a team with a full roster of 25 NHL players, while upstart Slovakia makes another improbable run at the Games.

After Canada did its part, the U.S. rebounded from Zibanejad’s scoring to keep alive the possibility of the North American rivals meeting in Sunday’s gold medal match. Goalkeeper Connor Hellebuyck stopped 28 of the 29 shots he faced, none more important than an A-chance from Lucas Raymond during the second period.

The US will face Slovakia in the semifinals on Friday night. Just before that, undefeated Canada also plays Finland in the other.

“It will be an extremely tough test,” Hughes said of Slovakia. “They’ve been rolling. They’re competitive. They’re fast. It doesn’t matter how many superstars you have, it’s just that the desperation level is so high. It’s Game 7 every night now.”

After losing captain Sidney Crosby Injury left Canada staring at what would have been a stunning quarterfinal match until Nick Suzuki equalized on a deflection goal with 3:27 to go. Then Mitch Marner scored just over a minute into extra time to beat the Czech Republic 4-3 and send the tournament favorite to the semi-finals.

“Everyone had complete confidence in whoever was crossing the boards,” coach Jon Cooper said. “It just felt like a matter of time. It was going to happen.”

The nerves were palpable as Canada fell behind with 7:42 remaining on Ondrej Palat’s goal after an odd rush following a pass from Martin Necas. Replays showed that the Czech Republic had six skaters on the ice, which Nathan MacKinnon said he and his teammates were aware of even though the on-ice officials did not notice.

Suzuki almost did it all on the equalizer, sending the puck towards the point to Devon Toews and then directing the defenseman’s shot that went well wide of Lukas Dostal and into the net.

“Toewser gave me a perfect opportunity to tip,” Suzuki said. “I’m just trying to put something out there.”

Jordan Binnington denied David Pastrnak on a breakaway with 70 seconds left to send the game beyond regulation. It was the biggest of Binnington’s 21 saves in an excellent performance from the Canadian starter.

Then Marner summoned more heroics playing for Canada, scoring his second OT goal in an international tournament in as many chances. Marner too scored similarly a year ago during the 4 Nations Face-Off.

“It’s the ‘it’ factor, man: Mitch Marner has it,” Cooper said. “It doesn’t disappoint. Sometimes your hair falls out, but in the end it never disappoints.”

Like Canada, Finland trailed late in the game against Switzerland. The Finns also got a late goal to avoid an embarrassing defeat.

Miro Heiskanen leveled the score with 72 seconds left, Artturi Lehkonen scored in extra time and Finland escaped with a 3–2 win. Heiskanen’s shot went off the stick of Swiss defender Jonas Siegenthaler and past goalkeeper Leonardo Genoni.

“We are a ruthless team,” Heiskanen said. “We never give up. We know we had a rough start. It was a slow start, but we kept playing, kept working and it paid off.”

Finland was actually two goals behind after Swiss Damien Riat and Nino Niederreiter scored 1 minute and 12 seconds apart in the first period. It took until there were 6:06 left before Sebastian Aho got Finland on the board.

Dalibor Dvorsky turned in another brilliant performance with a goal and an assist, fellow NHL forward Pavol Regenda scored twice as part of his three-point game and Slovakia dominated Germany 6-2 to reach the semi-finals and guarantee a medal in Milan.

“Awesome,” said alternate captain Erik Cernak, a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Tampa Bay Lightning. “If we said before the tournament that we were going to reach the semi-finals, people would probably laugh at you. But we did it, and it’s not done yet.”

Slovakia was hit with injuries in the second period as 21-year-old rising Montreal Canadiens star Juraj Slafkovsky, the reigning Olympic MVPwent head first into the boards and slowly rose to his feet. A trainer placed an ice pack on the back of Slafkovsky’s neck, and he kept it on himself as he stood up to celebrate a goal scored while receiving medical attention.

“I’m doing well,” Slafkovsky said. “I was a bit shocked, but after a few minutes I felt okay again. I went outside and my head didn’t turn. I saw normally.”

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics