The same disaster that flirted with Canada early in the day was sniffing around Team USA on Wednesday. But like their archrivals, the Americans were able to sidestep it and move on in the Olympic tournament in heart–pounding fashion in Milan, Italy.
After the US allowed a late equalizer in regulation, Quinn Hughes kept the Americans’ gold medal hopes alive with an overtime goal at 3:27 of the extra session to lift Team USA to a thrilling 2-1 victory over Sweden in the quarterfinals. The crafty, sublimely skilled Minnesota Wild defenseman took a drop pass from Matt Boldy and circled out high before cutting sharply into the high slot. In front of Gabriel Landeskog, he ripped a wrist shot past goalie Jacob Markstrom (38 saves) the off the post and in.
“You just want to pick and wait for your spot .I felt like I had one on the backhand earlier. I feel like I’m pretty good in open space, so I’m just trying to create a shot for myself and I was able to do that,” Hughes told NBC.
Surviving the gut punch of Mika Zibanejad’s tying goal with 1:31 left in regulation was no small feat.
“It’s hard,” said Hughes. “I don’t want to say it’s devastating because you’re still in the game but it’s like ‘here we go” and you’ve got all that stuff going on in your head. But we’ve got guys who’ve won Cups and gone deep, won some awards and are superstars in the league. You just have to rely on that pedigree. You’re playing Sweden, who can beat anyone on any given day. Yeah, it’s tough when they score with 90 (seconds) left.”
That ended a white-knuckle day of hockey. The US now advances to the semifinal against tournament Cinderella Slovakia on Friday
Earlier in the day, Canada escaped what would have been a mammoth upset when they tied David Pastrnak’s Czechia team late in the third period and then won it overtime on Mitch Marner’s backhander, sending them to Friday’s semifinal against Finland, who also advanced with an overtime win over Switzerland.
While Slovakia and Finland will have something to say about it, the dream matchup of US-Canada in the final is still on the board.
“It’s really special,” said Hughes. “You realize how hard it is to get here and we’re sending one of the best countries home, if not the best. It’s going to be tough, for sure.”
The first period was scoreless and evenly played, with the two teams each getting 10 shots on net. The US had the only power play in the first 20 minutes but could neither convert nor create sustained pressure. In fact, most of their chances were one-and-done with little net-front presence in front of Markstrom.
Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy was playing his first game without the bubble that he’s been wearing since coming back from the broken jaw he suffered on November 15. He wasn’t shy in getting physical, either, as he delivered a couple of big hits in the first period and throughout the game.
One of the Swede’s top defensemen, Victor Hedman, dressed and was on the bench but did not play in the first period. It was announced later that he had suffered a lower body injury during warmups. That allowed Hampus Lindholm, a late injury replacement, to see his first Olympic action.
As the action wore on in the second period, it was clear that the US would not have an easy time against the detail-oriented Swedes. The Tre Kronor got the first great chance of the game when Gabriel Landeskog made a terrific backhand pass to Lucas Raymond for what looked like a backdoor tap-in, but Connor Hellebuyck flashed the left pad for a terrific save.
Every save felt huge because the prospect of trying to come back against the Swedes, always strong defensively, was not an appetizing one.
And at 11:03 of the second, the Americans finally broke the ice. Dylan Larkin beat Bruin Elias Lindholm in a faceoff to the right of Markstrom and headed to the net. From the top of the zone, the game hero’s brother Jack Hughes blasted a shot that Markstrom could have stopped easily if it had gotten through. But Larkin was at the top of the crease to deflect it past the netminder for the 1-0 lead.
The Yanks then started to push the play from there the rest of the period. They outshot the Swedes, 20-8, in the second. But Markstrom stood tall to keep the Swedes within striking distance. The US had a late power play on a Hampus Lindholm penalty, but Sweden managed to kill it off to get to the third period down by just a goal.
The US was challenged early in the third when Vincent Trocheck tripped Landeskog to give Sweden its first power play but the Americans were able to kill it.
The Swedes, however, got some jump from the man advantage and, combined with the Americans’ willingness to just chip out the puck most of the time, they spent much of the period inside the US zone. With 2:30 left in regulation, Adrian Kempe nearly tied it up when he had a clean shot from the slot but he hit the post.
But with 1:31 remaining in regulation, the Swedes did knot it up. With Markstrom pulled for an extra skater, Raymond sent a tremendous diagonal pass to Zibanejad, who blasted a one-timer through Hellebuyck’s shortside, off the near post and in.
“I was shocked that it got through, actually,” said Hellebuyck, who made 28 saves in the win. “It took me a second to realize how it actually got through me because I thought I made a great push and beat it. I just put it behind me. That’s all you can do in hockey. You’re not going to have a shutout every single night. The main thing you can do is just try and win. And that’s what I did.”
Indeed, the US was able to shake that off, regain its composure and prevail.
