Like a shock to the system, hockey at the Olympics has gone from no one being eliminated in group play to a single-elimination knockout round.
MILAN, Italy — The men’s hockey quarterfinals featured a tense matchup between two medal favorites, the United States and Sweden, as the two teams fought for a place in the semifinals.
Team USA, led by Quinn Hughes, beat Sweden 2-1 in overtime.
The United States opened the scoring when Dylan Larkin redirected a shot from the point in the second period. That goal held until just under two minutes remained in the game, when Sweden’s Mika Zibanejad slammed home a shot off a great pass from Lucas Raymond.
Regulation ended in a 1-1 tie, setting up 10 minutes of 3-on-3 sudden-death overtime hockey.
The overtime period was filled with “U-S-A” chants from the crowd.
Both teams had plenty of scoring chances in overtime, but no one was able to cash in until a Hughes’ shot clanged off the right post and behind the Swedish goalie.
Sweden had won three of its four games in Milan and was a formidable opponent on Wednesday for the unbeaten second-seeded Americans to begin the single-elimination knockout round. Sweden is the only European team at the Olympics with a full roster of NHL players.
The semifinals are Friday, and the gold medal game is Sunday.
Canada played against Czechia, and won 4-3 in overtime. Canada won gold in both the 2014 and 2010 Olympics with NHL players. This year is the first time since 2014 that the NHL has given the green light for hockey players to attend the Olympics.
Slovakia and Germany faced off earlier Wednesday, with Slovakia securing a spot in the semifinals. Finland and Switzerland also competed in the quarterfinals and Finland won 3-2, also in overtime, advancing to the next stage.
After Wednesday, it is looking more probable that the United States and Canada will face off in the final on Sunday.