Team USA men’s hockey defeats Sweden 2-1 in overtime in Olympic quarterfinals; Canada is also developing

The US and Canada advance to the semifinals in the Olympics. Each needed more hockey to advance to the quarterfinals.

Quinn Hughes scored a goal in overtime to give the US a 2-1 win over Sweden after Mika Zibanejad’s tying goal with 91 seconds left in the third period. Dylan Larkin deflected Jack Hughes shot down one US target in control.

Earlier on Wednesday, Nick Suzuki tied it late for Canada against Czechia, and Mitch Marner won 4-3 in overtime to avoid what would have been an early exit.

“It was a relief,” said Canada’s Macklin Celebrini after scoring three minutes later and assisting on Marner’s goal. “A weight lifted off our shoulders, for sure. Just seeing that puck go in, we knew we won the game. … It was a great feeling for all of us.”

Finland also escaped the upset building by rallying to beat Switzerland 3-2 in OT. Sweden returns home early from a tournament that didn’t go as planned in the NHL’s 25-man squad, while upstart Slovakia makes another improbable run at the Games.

After Canada did its part, albeit with some drama and emotion, the US kept alive the chances of the North American rivals meeting in the gold medal game on Sunday by riding goaltender Connor Hellebuyck against Sweden.

The US will face Slovakia in one of the semifinals on Friday night. Before that, undefeated Canada plays Finland in another.

After losing captain Sidney Crosby to injury, Canada was looking down what could have been a dramatic quarterfinal appearance until Nick Suzuki tied it with a goal at 3:27. Then Mitch Marner scored just over a minute into extra time to beat Czechia 4-3 and send the tournament favorites into the semifinals.

“Everybody had complete faith in whoever was manning the boards,” said coach Jon Cooper. “It just seemed like a matter of time. It will happen.”

Nerves were palpable when Canada fell behind with 7:42 left on Ondrej Palat’s goal on a wild rush pass from Martin Necas. Replays showed Czechia had six skaters on the ice, which Nathan MacKinnon said he and his teammates knew, even if the ice officials didn’t.

Suzuki almost did everything in the goal, sending the puck to Devon Toews and redirecting a shot past Lukas Dostal and into the net.

Toewser gave me a good opportunity to talk about it,” Suzuki said. “I’m just trying to put something in the net there.”

Jordan Binington denied David Pastrnak on a breakaway with 70 seconds left to send the game over. It was the best of Binnington’s 21 saves in an outstanding performance by a Canadian starter.

Marner then called on some heroics for Canada, scoring his second OT goal in as many international games. Marner scored a similar goal last year in the 4 Nations Face-Off.

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

Like Canada, Finland was trailing after its match against Switzerland. The Finns scored again late on to avoid defeat.

Miro Heiskanen tied it with 72 seconds left, Artturi Lehkonen scored in overtime, and Finland escaped with a 3-2 victory. Heiskanen’s shot came off the stick of Swiss defender Jonas Siegenthaler and past goalkeeper Leonardo Genoni.

“We’re a relentless team,” Heiskanen said. “We never gave up. We know we started hard. We started slow but we continued to play, we continued to work and it paid off.”

Finland actually scored two goals after Switzerland’s Damien Riat and Nino Niederreiter scored one minute, 12 seconds apart in the first half. It took until 6:06 left before Sebastian Aho put Finland on the board.

Dalibor Dvorsky turned in another great game with a goal and an assist, fellow NHL forward Pavol Regenda scored twice as part of his three-point game, and Slovakia defeated Germany 6-2 to reach the semifinals and a medal match in Milan.

“It’s amazing,” said co-captain Erik Cernak, a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Tampa Bay Lightning. “Before the tournament, if we say we’re going to play the semi-finals, maybe people will laugh at you. But we did it, and it’s not done yet.”

Slovakia got an injury scare in the second half when 21-year-old Montreal Canadiens star Juraj Slafkovsky, the reigning Olympic MVP, went forward on the boards and was slow to get up. The coach applied an ice pack to the back of Slafkovsky’s neck, and he held himself back as he stood up to celebrate the goal he scored while receiving treatment.

“I’m fine,” said Slafkovsky. “I felt a little shaken, but after a few minutes I felt fine again. I went out there, and my head wasn’t spinning. I could see normal.”