U.S. head coach Mike Sullivan told the men's hockey team prior to the quarterfinal matchup with Sweden to consider it a "Game 7."
The showdown lived up to its billing — even better than playoff hockey — as the American squad outlasted Sweden 2-1 in an overtime thriller.
An exciting day of hockey all around, Wednesday marked the first time in Olympic quarterfinal-round history that three men's hockey games were decided in overtime.
The first period for the U.S. and Sweden was a tight one. After 20 minutes, they were tied in just about every category with ten shots apiece.
Team USA finally got an edge 11 minutes into the second when Dylan Larkin got on the board to give the U.S. a 1-0 lead. Larkin's goal proved to be the only one in regulation for the U.S.
“Scoring first and I thought we had the edge in shots and wearing them down," Larkin said after the game. "But they pushed in the third [period] and got one late, but I felt we deserved to win and we did.”
It looked as if the United States would hold on to cruise happily into the final four of the men's Olympic hockey tournament, but Sweden's Mika Zibanejad had other plans. He scored with just over a minute and a half to go in the third period to send the game to overtime, tied up 1-1.
"That is as nervous as I have ever been in a hockey game," Larkin said. The way 3-on-3 goes [in overtime], it is about being opportunistic. Someone could fall, the puck could bounce, anything can happen, especially with the ice out there."
The three-on-three overtime period lasted under four minutes, and it was 26-year-old Quinn Hughes who proved to be the hero in extra time.
"I calmed down a lot when I saw Quinn with it and was glad we got that guy," Larkin said.
Hughes found the back of the net to keep Team USA's medal hopes alive with a win 2-1 over Sweden. The overtime winner was the first goal of the tournament for Hughes and couldn't have come at a better time.
Hughes admitted after that the game could have gone either way in the end.
“Got lucky. Kind of got the defenders in the position that I wanted and was able to get the shot off," he said. "[Sweden's] one of the best countries in the world. They’ve got superstars everywhere."
U.S. goalie Connor Hellebuyck recorded 28 saves in the quarterfinal contest.
The United States advances to the semifinal on Feb. 20 against Slovakia.
"It was a great hockey game and I could not be more proud of our guys,” Sullivan said after the game. "We’ll enjoy tonight and then turn our attention to Slovakia.”
Canada 4, Czechia 3 (OT)
Canada got the better of Czechia in a thrilling overtime tilt, eventually securing a 4-3 victory to advance to the final four.
After Canada trailed by one in the third period, Mitch Marner netted the overtime goal to keep Canada's medal hopes afloat.
"[It was] adrenaline: trust in your skill that you work on so hard throughout the summer," Marner said after the win. "You just trust yourself to make a play there, and I was lucky enough to score."
Canada advances to the semifinals on Feb. 20 to play Finland.
Slovakia 6, Germany 2
Slovakia took down Germany 6-2 in the men's hockey Olympic quarterfinal round on Wednesday.
Pavol Regenda, Milos Kelemen, Oliver Okuliar, Dalibor Dvorsky and Tomas Tatar scored for Slovakia.
"We are happy, we are a great team, from first to last. Everybody is working 200 percent every day and you can see out there," Regenda said after the game. "We are happy that we are in the top four of the world now,” he added.
Germany's Lukas Reichel and Frederik Tiffels scored the pair of goals in the team's exit from the tournament.
Slovakia moves on to face the United States in the semifinal round on Feb. 20.
Finland 3, Switzerland 2 (OT)
Finland survived overtime against Switzerland and is moving on after a 3-2 win.
Artturi Lehkonen scored the game-winner for Finland's comeback overtime win.
"It’s unreal. It’s always good to score a goal, but when it’s in overtime and at an Olympics, it feels even better," Lehkonen said after the game.
Finland plays Canada in the semifinals on Feb. 20.