MILAN (AP) — Jacob Markstrom is thrilled to be tending goal for Sweden at the Olympics. He is not ready to go home just yet.
“I waited 36 years to get my first one and it’s a great feeling, but you don’t want it to end,” Markstrom said.
Markstrom made 20 saves, Adrian Kempe and Gabriel Landeskog scored in the first period and Sweden avoided the earliest possible exit by defeating Latvia 5-1 in the qualification round on Tuesday. The U.S. awaits in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
“It’s a fun challenge,” defenseman Erik Karlsson said. “That’s why we came here: to play these guys. I know everybody, including ourselves, it’s probably a little bit earlier than we expected it to be, but it is what it is.”
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With all the pressure on — and the possibility looming of being on the NHL player-filled first plane back to North America — the Swedes endured a nervous first 10 minutes before Kempe got them on the board. Landeskog scored 41 seconds later to relieve some of the tension.
Filip Forsberg scored in the second, and Mika Zibanejad and William Nylander added insurance goals in the third. Lucas Raymond, who has been Sweden’s best player minus a costly penalty, had three primary assists.
Sweden has won three of its four games in Milan and is a formidable opponent Wednesday for the unbeaten second-seeded Americans to begin the single-elimination knockout round.
“Our opponent’s going to up another level,” Landeskog said. “What a great opportunity it is to see what we’re made of.”
Markstrom has emerged as Sweden’s starting goalie after Filip Gustavsson started the tournament in that role. It’s entirely possible Markstrom plays on back-to-back nights, a rarity in the NHL.
“Many times you see goalies who play back to back play even better the second night,” coach Sam Hallam said. “But let’s see if everybody’s fresh and ready to go.”
A look ahead at a U.S.-Sweden quarterfinal
Facing Latvia, Denmark and Germany in the preliminary round allowed U.S. coach Mike Sullivan to hone in on his optimal lineup and Connor Hellebuyck to show why he’s the clear-cut starting goaltender over the Dallas Stars’ Jake Oettinger. Winning 5-1, 6-3 and 5-1 means the Americans have not tested as much as some other top contenders so far.
That changes against Sweden, which had to play in the qualification round and beat Latvia just to get to this stage.
“As this tournament starts to move forward, the stakes get higher,” Sullivan said. “The competition gets stiffer, and I think our guys are excited for that challenge.”
The Swedes are only seeded seventh because they finished third in their group behind Finland and Slovakia based on a goal differential tiebreaker from one they allowed in the final minute of a 5-3 victory in their round-robin finale. Matthew Tkachuk rightfully called them “one of the powerhouses in the world,” so the difficulty level is ratcheting up big time for him and his U.S. teammates.
“We haven’t seen them yet in this tournament, but we’re very well aware of the personnel group that they have,” Sullivan said.
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