Quinn Hughes scored the game-winning goal in overtime as the United States defeated Sweden 2-1 in a quarterfinal match of the Olympic men’s hockey tournament on Wednesday, securing a spot in the semifinals. The victory sets up a semifinal clash with Slovakia, while Canada will face Finland in the other semifinal matchup on Friday.
The game, played at the Santagiulia Arena, saw Dylan Larkin also score for the Americans. Swedish forward Mika Zibanejad forced overtime with a late goal, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the U.S. From advancing. American goaltender Connor Hellebuyck stopped 28 of 29 shots.
Hughes finished the night with two points, having also assisted on Larkin’s goal. “They have a fine team. They played a good game. You’ve got to give them credit. They pushed us in our end in the third,” U.S. Forward Jack Eichel said following the game. “We probably were a little passive than we would have liked to be. It would have been nice to push a little more to get that second goal.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Finland advanced to the semifinals with a 3-2 overtime win against Switzerland, thanks to a decisive goal from Artturi Lehkonen. This victory established the Canada-Finland semifinal game.
Slovakia had previously secured their semifinal berth with a win over Germany. The United States will now play Slovakia in the other semifinal.
The Canada-Finland semifinal is scheduled for Friday at 10:40 a.m. ET (7:40 a.m. PT). Canada reached the semifinals after a 4-3 overtime win against Czechia, with Mitch Marner scoring the winning goal. Both Canada and Finland needed to rally from behind to win their respective quarterfinal games. Canada overcame 2-1 and 3-2 deficits, while Finland erased a 2-0 deficit late in the third period.
Canada went undefeated in the preliminary round, boasting a plus-17 goal differential and allowing only three goals against. Finland, after an initial loss to Slovakia, rebounded with wins over Italy (11-0) and Sweden (4-1). Connor McDavid currently leads the tournament in scoring with 11 points in four games, while Artturi Lehkonen leads Finland with five points.
Canada may be without defenceman Josh Morrissey, who has been injured since the tournament opener, and captain Sidney Crosby, who left the game against Czechia with a lower-body injury.
