By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writer
MILAN (AP) — 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.
“That’s as nervous as I’ve been ever in a hockey game,” Dylan Larkin said.
When Canada was trailing Czechia with under four minutes left, guys with gold medals and Stanley Cup rings started to feel butterflies.
“I never had a doubt, but it was getting a little nerve-wracking,” Drew Doughty said.
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.
Quinn Hughes scored in overtime to put the U.S. past Sweden 2-1 after Mika Zibanejad scored to tie it late.
“Just relief,” Hughes said.
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.
“It was just all relief,” Canada’s Macklin Celebrini said after scoring three minutes in and then assisting on Marner’s goal. “A weight lifted off our shoulders.”
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.
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.
The U.S. will face Slovakia in one semifinal on Friday night. Just before that, also unbeaten Canada plays Finland in the other.
“It’s gonna be an extremely hard test,” Hughes said of Slovakia. “They’ve been rolling. They’re competitive. They’re fast. Doesn’t matter how many superstars you have, just the desperation level’s so high. It’s Game 7 every night now.”
Canada survives an upset scare from Czechia
After losing captain Sidney Crosby to injury, Canada was staring down what would have been a stunning quarterfinal exit until Nick Suzuki tied it on a deflection goal with 3:27 left. Then Mitch Marner scored a little more than a minute into overtime to beat Czechia 4-3 and send the tournament favorite into the semifinals.
“Everybody had complete faith in whoever was going over the boards,” coach Jon Cooper said. “It just felt it was like a matter of time. It was going to happen.”
The nerves were palpable when Canada fell behind with 7:42 remaining on Ondrej Palat’s goal on an odd-man rush off a pass from Martin Necas. Replays showed Czechia had six skaters on the ice, which Nathan MacKinnon said he and his teammates were aware of, even if on-ice officials didn’t notice.
Suzuki just about did it all on the tying goal, sending the puck out to the point to Devon Toews and then redirecting the defenseman’s shot that was going well wide past Lukas Dostal and into the net.
“Toewser gave me a perfect opportunity to tip it,” Suzuki said. “Just trying to put something on net there.”
Jordan Binnington denied David Pastrnak on a breakaway with 70 seconds left to send the game past regulation. It was the biggest of Binnington’s 21 saves in an excellent performance from Canada’s starter.
Then Marner summoned some more heroics playing for Canada, scoring his second OT goal in an international tournament in as many chances. Marner also scored in a similar fashion a year ago at the 4 Nations Face-Off.
“It’s the ‘it’ factor, man: Mitch Marner’s got it,” Cooper said. “He doesn’t disappoint. Sometimes your hair falls out at times, but in the end, he never disappoints.”
Finland also ties it late and wins in overtime
Much like Canada, Finland was trailing late in its game against Switzerland. The Finns also got a late goal to avoid an upset defeat.
Miro Heiskanen tied it with 72 seconds left, Artturi Lehkonen scored in overtime and Finland escaped with a 3-2 victory. Heiskanen’s shot banked in off Switzerland defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler’s stick and past goaltender Leonardo Genoni.
“We are a relentless team,” Heiskanen said. “We never give up. We know we had a tough start. It was a slow start, but we kept playing, kept working and it paid off.”
Finland was actually down two goals after Switzerland’s Damien Riat and Nino Niederreiter scored 1 minute, 12 seconds apart in the first period. It took until there was 6:06 left before Sebastian Aho got Finland on the board.
Slovakia reaches the semis despite quietgame from Slafkovsky
Dalibor Dvorsky turned in another brilliant performance with a goal and an assist, fellow NHL forward Pavol Regenda scored twice as part of his three-point game and Slovakia dominated Germany 6-2 on to reach the semifinals and guarantee playing for a medal in Milan.
“Amazing,” said alternate captain Erik Cernak, a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Tampa Bay Lightning. “Before the tournament, if we would say we’re going to make semifinals, probably people would laugh at you. But we did it, and it’s not done yet.”
Slovakia got an injury scare in the second period when 21-year-old emerging Montreal Canadiens star Juraj Slafkovsky, the reigning Olympic MVP, went head-first into the boards and was slow to get up. A trainer applied an ice pack to the back of Slafkovsky’s neck, and he held it on himself when he got up to celebrate a goal scored while he was getting medical attention.
“I’m OK,” Slafkovsky said. “I was a little shaken up, but after a couple minutes I felt OK again. I went out there, and head wasn’t spinning. I was seeing normal.”
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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics