The U.S. men’s hockey team marched through group play in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy.
Now Team USA is on to the quarter-final to play Sweden on Wednesday, Feb. 18 with puck drop at 3:10 p.m. (ET). Following an undefeated run through pool play, USA earned the No. 2 seed in the tournament. Sweden is the No. 7 seed and defeated No. 10 Latvia, 5-1, in Tuesday’s playoff round.
The gold medal is just three wins away for Team USA. No. 1 Canada still looms large and is alive and well in the tournament.
Semifinals – Friday, Feb. 20
Bronze-medal game – Saturday, Feb. 21
Gold-medal game – Sunday, Feb. 22
USA will play Slovakia in the semifinal on Friday, Feb. 20 (3:10 p.m. ET). Canada will play Finland in the other semifinal (10:40 a.m. ET).
Quinn Hughes rings a wrist shot off the post and into the back of the net to send USA to the semifinals. Hughes declined a line change moments before his heroic moment.
USA’s Dylan Larkins makes a couple key places, but we play on. There’s 7:20 left in OT.
Auston Matthews gets a good shot off, but Sweden’s Jacob Markstrom makes his 35th save of the night. There are less than 8 minutes remaining in OT.
For the third consecutive game, a quarter-final will be decided in overtime. First USA and Sweden will play a 10-minute, 3-on-3 period with golden goal rules. If neither side can score, the teams will go to a 5-round shootout.
With 1:31 remaining, Sweden ties the game seconds after Jacob Markstrom leaves the net empty at 1-1. Mika Zibanejad scores the goal off a feed from Lucas Raymond.
Sweden pulls goalie Jacob Markstrom to get the extra attacker. USA leads 1-0 with under 2 minutes remaining.
USA still leads 1-0 with under 4 minutes to play.
Connor Hellebuyck uses his stick to break up a chance for Sweden. USA leads 1-0 with 6 minutes remaining in regulation.
Team USA leads 1-0 midway through the third period.
Sweden passes up a few solid shooting opportunities and JT Miller had a key blocked shot to kill off the threat. USA leads 1-0 with nearly 15 minutes remaining.
Sweden will head to the power play for the first time today. USA leads 1-0 with 17:25 remaining in the third period. Vincent Trocheck, one of USA’s top penalty killers, is in the box.
Team USA leads 1-0 as the puck has dropped in the third period. USA had a 20-8 edge in shots in the middle period.
Sweden kills off a late US power play in the second period. Dylan Larkin’s goal has USA up 1-0 heading into the third period. Sweden goalie Jacob Markstrom is up to 29 saves. He faced 20 shots in the second period.
With 2:32 left in the second period, Sweden’s Hampus Lindholm picks up a minor penalty for a trip. USA is 0-for-1 on the power play today.
The US has outscored opponents by 8 in the second period. USA has been even with opponents in the first period and have a +4 advantage in the third period so far in the tournament.
The US finally beats Jacob Markstrom with 8:57 left in the second period to take a 1-0 lead. Dylan Larkin deflects a Jack Hughes shot from the blue line on a designed play. Quinn Hughes, Jack’s brother, won the faceoff and also received an assist on the goal. That was Larkin’s first goal of the tournament and a reward for excelling at faceoffs (he’s won 65% during the tourney).
Sweden goalie Jacob Markstrom has been solid to keep the score at 0-0 midway through the second period.
Sweden defenseman Victor Hedman, although he is dressed, will not play. He reportedly suffered a lower-body injury during warm-ups.
USA men’s hockey coach Mike Sullivan hails from Marshfield, Mass. He played high school hockey at BC High. The 57-year-old now coaches the New York Rangers and previously won a pair of Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Sullivan’s daughter, Kiley Sullivan, is married to USA and Boston Bruin defenseman Charlie McAvoy.
After a scoreless first period, the puck has dropped in the second period of the USA vs. Sweden hockey game.
The US has been unable to solve Sweden goalie Jacob Markstrom. He’s up to 10 saves so far. USA’s Connor Hellebuyck has also been solid with 10 saves.
Seven-time gold medalist and 11-time Olympic medalist Simone Biles is in attendance.
USA’s Jack Hughes gets a good look at a slapshot on his teammate with the New Jersey Devils, Sweden goalie Jacob Markstrom, but he stands tall. Markstrom has 10 saves so far with 2:37 left in the first period.
Hedman has played in four Olympic games so far and scored a goal and an assist. Sweden did play on Tuesday night. Hedman has won two Stanley Cups with the Tampa Bay Lightning. In the NHL, Hedman has played in only 21 games while missing 34. Hedman had elbow surgery on Dec. 9 and returned on Feb. 1 to play three NHL games before heading to the Olympics.
USA went 0-for-1 on the power play and we’re still scoreless. USA has a 7-6 edge in shot. The announcers have commented that Sweden defenseman Victor Hedman, a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Tampa Bay Lightning, hasn’t been on the ice yet.
We remain at 0-0 early in the first period. Sweden goalie Jacob Markstrom is already up to 6 saves while the Swedes have 0 shots on goal.
Sweden takes a slashing penalty. USA will go on the power play with 16:39 left in the first period.
The teams are on the ice, ready to battle for the final semi-final spot available.
The day started as expected, as No. 3 Slovakia handled No. 6 Germany, 6-2, in the first quarter-final of the day.
Then the day took a turn as No. 1 Canada was nearly stunned by No. 8 Czechia, but ultimately prevailed with a 4-3 overtime victory. Czechia scored a goal with 6 skaters on the ice, an egregious missed call. Canada’s Sidney Crosby left and did not return following a lower-body injury.
Canada’s Nick Suzuki scored the tying goal late in the third period and Mitch Marner scored the winner in overtime.
No. 4 Finland rallied from a two-goal deficit to defeat No. 5 Switzerland, 3-2, in overtime. Finland scored two goals in the third period to erase a 2-0 deficit and Artturi Lehkonen scored a pair of goals, including the winner.
Three of the four men’s hockey semi-finalists have been set, but the matchups are still up in the air pending the result of USA vs. Sweden.
If No. 2 USA wins, here’s what the semi-final would look like:
If No. 7 Sweden stuns No. 2 USA, here’s the semi-final matchups
Trailing 2-0 entering the third period, Finland rallied to send the game to overtime with two tallies. Artturi Lehkonen’s second goal of the game, an overtime winner, sends Finland to the semi-final.
Canada defeated Czechia earlier in the day in extra time and now Switzerland and Finland are headed to overtime. A golden-goal, 10-minute, 3-on-3 overtime could decide this one. If the teams are still tied, the game moves to a five-round shootout.
Switzerland led 2-0 after one period behind goals from Nino Niederreiter and Damien Riat. Finland rallied with two third-period goals to send the game to OT. Artturi Lehkonen and Sebastian Aho scored.
Connor Hellebuyck gets the start in goal. Jeremy Swayman, the Boston Bruin who started against Denmark, is not dressed for this one.
Sweden is loaded with NHL talent. Every one of the team’s players is currently in the NHL.
Lucas Raymond (Detroit Red Wings) has been one of the best players in the tournament so far. He’s scored a goal while handing seven assists. He began the day tied for the third-most points in the tournament. Mika Zibanejad (New York Rangers) has 2 goals and 3 assists. Rasmus Dahlin (Buffalo Sabres) has 1 goal and 4 assists.
Jacob Markstrom (New Jersey Devils) has started every game in goal so far during Olympic play with a goals-against average of 2.01 and a save percentage of 92.45.
Sweden, a Scandinavian country, is located in North Europe. Norway borders Sweden to the North, Finland is to the East and Denmark is to the southwest.
Sweden’s coasts are along the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia
3 Oliver Ekman-Larsson, D
4 Rasmus Andersson, D
6 Philip Broberg, D
9 Filip Forsberg, F
10 Alexander Wennberg, F
14 Joel Eriksson Ek, F
19 Adrian Kempe, F
23 Lucas Raymond, F
25 Jacob Markstrom, G
26 Rasmus Dahlin, D
27 Hampus Lindholm, D
28 Elias Lindholm, F
29 Pontus Holmberg, F
30 Jesper Wallstedt, G 32
Filip Gustavsson, G
40 Elias Pettersson, F
42 Gustav Forsling, D
63 Jesper Bratt, F
65 Erik Karlsson, D
67 Rickard Rakell, F
77 Victor Hedman, D
88 William Nylander, F
90 Marcus Johansson, F
92 Gabriel Landeskog, F
93 Mika Zibanejad, F
1 Jeremy Swayman, G
2 Jackson LaCombe, D
8 Zach Werenski, D
9 Jack Eichel, F
10 J.T. Miller, F
12 Matt Boldy, F
14 Brock Faber, D
15 Noah Hanifin, D
16 Vincent Trocheck, F
19 Matthew Tkachuk, F
21 Dylan Larkin, F
29 Brock Nelson, F
34 Auston Matthews, F
37 Connor Hellebuyck, G
43 Quinn Hughes, D
59 Jake Guentzel, F
72 Tage Thompson, F
74 Jaccob Slavin, D
81 Kyle Connor, F
85 Jake Sanderson, D
86 Jack Hughes, F
91 Clayton Keller, F
No. 1 Canada and No. 3 Slovakia have punched their tickets to the Olympic semi-final. So what’s next?
If No. 2 USA wins, here’s what the semi-final would look like:
If No. 7 Sweden stuns No. 2 USA, here’s the semi-final matchups
Canada’s next opponent is still to be determined as the bracket will re-seed after the quarter-final. Canada will play the lowest-seeded team remaining. If USA wins, Canada will play the winner of No. 5 Switzerland and No. 4 Finland. If USA loses, Canada would play No. 7 Sweden.
A USA win will pit the Americans against No. 3 Slovakia in the semifinals.
Just a few minutes of ice time ago, Canada was on the brink of elimination. That is until Nick Suzuki tied the game with 3:27 remaining in regulation. Mitch Marner, a member of the Vegas Golden Knights, skates through three defenders and finds twine to send Canada to the semifinals.
Marner had spent his entire career with the Toronto Maple Leafs before he was part of a sign-and-trade with Vegas. Marner signed an 8-year, $96 million contract.
Canada and Czechia will play a 10-minute, 3-on-3 overtime. Golden goal rules are being used, so the first team to score will win. If the game is tied after the OT, the game will go to a 5-player shootout.
With 3:27 remaining in the third period, Canada’s Nick Suzuki ties the game at 3-3. Suzuki is the captain of the Montreal Canadiens.
From the quarter-final stage through the bronze-medal game, overtime begins with a 10-minute 3-on-3 sudden death OT. If still tied, the games move to a five-skate shootout.
The gold-medal game is played with full 5-on-5 periods until a golden goal is scored.
Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby has been ruled out for the rest of Wednesday’s game against Czechia with a lower-body injury. Canada is deadlocked in a 2-2 tie with Czechia in the third period.
Four playoff games were held on Tuesday, Feb. 17
Quarterfinals – Wednesday, Feb. 18
Semifinals – Friday, Feb. 20
Bronze-medal game – Saturday, Feb. 21
Gold-medal game – Sunday, Feb. 22
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