Red, White, And Hughes: Team USA Beats Sweden In OT Thriller To Keep Olympic Gold Medal Dream Alive

There were many tense moments throughout the tightly-contested quarterfinal match between the United States and Sweden, but the Americans ultimately emerged with a dramatic overtime victory. 

Quinn Hughes fired a wrist shot past Swedish netminder Jacob Markstrom (who played a fantastic game) 3:27 into overtime to lift the Americans into the semifinals and keep the dream of a gold medal in men's hockey alive. 

Dylan Larkin opened the scoring for the United States midway through the second period, and it seemed that would be the only tally the Americans might need. But Sweden's Mika Zibanejad scored a game-tying goal with just 1:31 left in the third period. 

Team USA players celebrate a goal against Sweden during the men's hockey quarterfinals at the 2026 Winter Olympics. 

(EyesWideOpen/Getty Images)

The U.S. found itself facing the pre-tournament third-favorites by betting odds to win gold (according to ESPN) in the quarterfinals because the Swedes struggled during group play and entered the knockout stage as the seventh seed. Sweden easily dispatched tenth-seeded Latvia 5-1 to set up the match against the United States. 

Sweden certainly looked like the third-best men's national hockey team in the world, consistently putting pressure on American goaltender Connor Hellebuyck. But Hellebuyck is quickly turning himself into an American hero in these Olympics. He's started three of the team's four games, and stopped 69 of the 72 shots he's faced, including 29 of 30 against Sweden. 

What The U.S. Win Means For A Possible Canada Rematch

Team USA almost caught the ultimate good break as tournament favorite Canada trailed by a goal with less than four minutes to go in its quarterfinal match against Czechia, but the Canadians rallied to score a late game-tying goal before winning in overtime. 

The Americans will face Slovakia on Friday with a trip to the gold medal game on the line while the Canadian squad faces Finland (which had its own third-period comeback to defeat Switzerland). Should both Canada and the U.S. win, they would face each other on Sunday for the gold medal. 

After the incredible 4 Nations Face-Off championship game between the United States and Canada last year, hockey fans have to be pulling for a rematch. Even as an American who wants nothing more than to see the USA win the gold medal, I'd love to see the two best hockey nations in the world square up for all the marbles. 

Yes, Team USA's chances of winning gold increase significantly if the Fins upset Canada on Friday. But if you want to be the best in the world, you have to beat the best in the world. Don't think for a second that the Americans aren't thinking about that 4 Nations loss. 

"I think there is definitely a lot of motivation for that and from losing that game," Team USA star Auston Matthews said in September. "But I think we showed throughout the tournament we're right there with those guys, and we feel like we're the best hockey country in the world, and so it's going to be exciting to have the opportunity to prove that again."

Before thinking about that, though, the Americans must take care of business on Friday in Italy against Slovakia. Team USA will be heavily favored, but that doesn't mean much once the puck is dropped. 

The United States hasn't won an Olympic gold medal in men's hockey since 1980, the tournament that featured the famous "Miracle on Ice" victory over the USSR.  

With the win over Sweden, the U.S. is just two wins away from finally breaking the drought. But there's a lot of work left to do. 

Fortunately, Americans don't shy away from hard work.