{"id":463037,"date":"2026-02-19T05:59:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T05:59:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/463037\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T05:59:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T05:59:19","slug":"wilds-hughes-is-ot-hero-as-u-s-beats-sweden-twin-cities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/463037\/","title":{"rendered":"Wild\u2019s Hughes is OT hero as U.S. beats Sweden \u2013 Twin Cities"},"content":{"rendered":"

MILAN, Italy \u2014\u00a0 When the U.S. gave up a tying goal to Sweden with 91 seconds left in the quarterfinals at the Olympics, even the most seasoned players were on edge.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s as nervous as I\u2019ve been ever in a hockey game,\u201d Dylan Larkin said.<\/p>\n

When Canada was trailing Czechia with under four minutes left, guys with gold medals and Stanley Cup rings started to feel butterflies.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never had a doubt, but it was getting a little nerve-wracking,\u201d Drew Doughty said.<\/p>\n

After plenty of nerves, the U.S. and Canada are moving on to the semifinals, though it took a roller coaster of emotions to get there.<\/p>\n

Minnesota Wild defenseman Quinn Hughes scored in overtime to put the U.S. past Sweden 2-1 after Mika Zibanejad scored to tie it late.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust relief,\u201d Hughes said.<\/p>\n

Earlier Wednesday, Nick Suzuki tied it for Canada late in regulation against Czechia, and Mitch Marner won it 4-3 in overtime to avoid what would have been a stunning early exit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just all relief,\u201d Canada\u2019s Macklin Celebrini said after scoring three minutes in and then assisting on Marner\u2019s goal. \u201cA weight lifted off our shoulders.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finland also escaped an upset bid by rallying to beat Switzerland 3-2 in OT. Sweden is going home early from a tournament that did not go as planned for a team with a full roster of 25 NHL players, while upstart Slovakia is making another improbable run at the Games.<\/p>\n

After Canada did its part, the U.S. bounced back from Zibanejad scoring to keep alive the possibility of the North American rivals meeting in the gold medal game Sunday. Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck stopped 28 of the 29 shots he faced, none more important than a Grade-A chance by Lucas Raymond during the second period.<\/p>\n

The U.S. will face Slovakia in one semifinal on Friday night. Just before that, also unbeaten Canada plays Finland in the other.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s gonna be an extremely hard test,\u201d Hughes said of Slovakia. \u201cThey\u2019ve been rolling. They\u2019re competitive. They\u2019re fast. Doesn\u2019t matter how many superstars you have, just the desperation level\u2019s so high. It\u2019s Game 7 every night now.\u201d<\/p>\n

.<\/p>\n

\"MILAN,MILAN, ITALY – FEBRUARY 18: Quinn Hughes #43 of Team United States scores a goal defended by Gabriel Landeskog #92 of Team Sweden in overtime during the Men’s Quarterfinals Playoff match between the United States and Sweden on day 12 of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on February 18, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Bruce Bennett\/Getty Images)
\n\"MILAN,MILAN, ITALY – FEBRUARY 18: Players of Team United States congratulate Connor Hellebuyck #37 after defeating Sweden 2-1 in overtime during the Men’s Quarterfinals Playoff match between the United States and Sweden on day 12 of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on February 18, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Gregory Shamus\/Getty Images)
\n\"UnitedUnited States’ Quinn Hughes (43) shoots and scores his team’s second goal to win the men’s ice hockey quarterfinal game between the United States and Sweden at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (Alexander Nemenov\/Pool Photo via AP)
\n\"UnitedUnited States’ goalkeeper Connor Hellebuyck (37) and Brock Faber (14) defend against Sweden’s Gabriel Landeskog (92) during a men’s ice hockey quarterfinal game between the United States and Sweden at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. (AP Photo\/Carolyn Kaster)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MILAN, Italy \u2014\u00a0 When the U.S. gave up a tying goal to Sweden with 91 seconds left in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":463038,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5118],"tags":[3189,5,161,38,5280,4,2602,43,162],"class_list":{"0":"post-463037","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-wild","8":"tag-2026-winter-olympics","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-minnesota","11":"tag-minnesota-wild","12":"tag-minnesotawild","13":"tag-nhl","14":"tag-olympics","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-wild"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116095770877492584","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=463037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/463037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/463038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=463037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=463037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=463037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}