Men's Olympic Ice Hockey
2026 Olympic
Hockey
Advertisement
Team USA has edged Sweden 2-1 in overtime in the quarterfinals of the men's hockey tournament at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Quinn Hughes scored 3:27 into the 3-on-3 overtime to send the U.S. through to the semifinals.
Dylan Larkin scored the game’s first goal midway through the second period with a redirection from point-blank range. The U.S. led until Mika Zibanejad scored with just 1:31 left, after the Swedes had pulled their goalie.
The U.S. will face Slovakia in the semifinals on Friday.
Sweden was without Victor Hedman for the game after the defenseman suffered a lower-body injury in warmups.
Share your reaction with us at live@theathletic.com.
Connor Hellebuyck wasn’t tested quite as much as Jacob Markström was, but he had quite the game-long duel with Sweden’s Lucas Raymond, who finished the game with five shots on goal, three of them dangerous chances.
Late in the first period, Oliver Ekman-Larsson sprung Raymond for a breakaway right up the gut, and Hellebuyck calmly made the save. Then, early in the second period, Gabriel Landeskog found Raymond at the back door with a brilliant no-look backhand pass through four bodies, but Hellebuyck — never out of position — got his left pad on it. Later in the second, Hellebuyck denied Raymond again, shrugging off a hard shot off the rush.
He played a strong game before his shutout was ruined by Mika Zibanejad’s extra-attacker goal.
Team USA head coach Mike Sullivan speaking after the game: “It was a great hockey game and I could not be more proud of our guys. We beat an excellent hockey team in Sweden. We’ll enjoy tonight, and then turn our attention to Slovakia.”
Despite playing the night before in a playoff-round win over Latvia, New Jersey Devils netminder Jacob Markström got the start for the Swedes. And he didn’t look any worse for the wear.
Markström made 37 saves and was the biggest reason Sweden remained in the game into the third period. The only goal he had given up to that point was one he didn’t have a chance on, as Larkin — left almost completely unchecked by Rasmus Dahlin in front of the net — tipped Jack Hughes’ shot. Dahlin was standing next to Larkin, but didn’t put his body or his stick on him, allowing him a clean look for the tip.
Dylan Larkin is four goals away from a fifth straight 30-goal season for the Detroit Red Wings team he captains. Yet he had gone without a goal in the first three games of the tournament and didn’t have a lot of chances after being one of the United States’ best players at the 4 Nations.
Today, his line was by far the Americans’ best line, with Tage Thompson getting an abundance of chances and Larkin finally snapping a 0-0 second-period tie with a nifty redirection of Jack Hughes’ one-timer from the point after Larkin, the best faceoff man in the tournament, won the draw.
It was a cool moment for Larkin, Hughes and his brother Quinn, all Michigan residents who teamed up on the scoring battery. The Hughes brothers have combined for nine points in four games, but more notably, the Hugheses, Larkin, Zach Werenski, Connor Hellebuyck, Jake Sanderson and Kyle Connor are part of a star-studded summer group that skates almost daily in Plymouth in a session run by Jim Hughes, dad of the Hughes brothers.
As one of the three premier teams in the tournament, the Swedes were never supposed to play in the playoff round. But — and he was almost ashamed to admit it — Victor Hedman was almost glad they did. Hedman missed nearly two months with an elbow injury, returning to the Tampa Bay Lightning for just the last three games before the Olympic break. He needed all the action he could get in order to reach midseason form in a hurry.
“Being a little selfish, for me, to get this extra game was huge,” the big defenseman said after a 5-1 win over Latvia yesterday. “I haven’t played a whole lot this year. Get the timing, get the legs into it, get ready for tomorrow.”
Unfortunately for Hedman — and for Sweden — Hedman never got a chance against the United States. Coach Sam Hallam said Hedman suffered a lower-body injury during warmups. Hedman stayed in uniform and sat on the bench to support his teammates, but did not play.
Below are the top seven players in the Olympic men’s hockey tournament in terms of points:
All four teams that got a bye to skip the playoff round won today. All four teams that were playing the second of a back-to-back today lost.
Ranking the four starting goaltenders in the semifinals by their save percentage here at the Olympics:
With NHLers participating in the Olympics, this was Team USA's 11th elimination game in the men’s hockey tournament.
They had never won an overtime game in those 10 previous contests. Of course, American fans remember the Vancouver 2010 gold medal game, losing to Canada in the final, thanks to Sidney Crosby’s “Golden Goal.”
Quinn Hughes now has the distinction of scoring Team USA’s first OT winner in an Olympic elimination game that included NHL players.
Looking further ahead, while Canada is the stronger team according to our model, the U.S. actually has a higher likelihood of winning the gold medal now, thanks to the lopsided semifinal projections.
The U.S. is a very heavy favorite in the semifinal against Slovakia, according to our projections. The game between Canada and Finland is expected to be more even.
In international hockey, USA and Slovakia have played 30 times at the senior men’s national team level.
At the Olympic Games with NHLers, USA and Slovakia have met just twice: at Sochi 2014 and Turin 2006.
The Americans dominated the Slovakians 7-1 in 2014, with David Backes, Phil Kessel and Dustin Brown among the goal scorers. In 2006, Slovakia prevailed 2-1.
Going back to how Sweden forced overtime, I don't want to pile on Team USA's roster-building process, but whatever: J.T. Miller lost a board battle that led directly to Mika Zibanejad's goal. He's in the lineup primarily to not do stuff like that.
Are you a fan hailing from a major hockey power nation that had a stressful quarterfinal win that you’re still recovering from, or are you Slovakian and wearing sunglasses at the beach feeling rested and chill as hell?
The Athletic Hockey Show is live, breaking down one of the wildest days of Olympic action you'll ever see. Check out their stream below.
The Americans have played in three previous Olympic semifinals with the NHL’s participation.
Team USA’s record in those games is 2-1. Their lone loss was at Sochi 2014 against the eventual gold-medal winner Canada.
With this win, USA Hockey still has a chance to take double gold in the sport here at the Olympics. The U.S. women's team faces Canada in the gold medal game tomorrow before the men's semifinal against Slovakia on Friday.
The U.S. has only won the gold medal in men's hockey twice, both coming before women's hockey was included in the Olympics: 1960 and 1980.
Michael Russo and Mark Lazerus have been kind enough to bring us instant analysis of Team USA's wild win, diving into:
Follow the link below to check out their breakdown.
GO FURTHER
Team USA knocks out Sweden in overtime to reach Olympic men’s hockey semifinals
Quinn Hughes is already one of the best defensemen in the NHL. He is a past Norris Trophy Winner and a two-time All-Star.
But tonight, scoring the overtime winner to send the Americans to the semifinals of the Olympics, has to be a career-defining moment for the 26-year-old.
If Team USA goes on to win gold, this will be one of the legendary moments.
Hockey News