MILAN — Quinn Hughes admits he was crushed last February when an ill-timed oblique injury robbed him of the chance to play for the U.S. men’s hockey team at the 4 Nations tournament.
A year later, it’s safe to say that the Americans are grateful to have him now.
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Hughes called game three-plus minutes into overtime against Sweden on Thursday to help the U.S. survive its first real test of these Olympics. The 26-year-old defenseman ripped a laser shot past Swedish goaltender Jacob Markstrom, securing a 2-1 American victory in an Olympic quarterfinal matchup that very easily could have come a round or two later in knockout play.
Asked how it felt to see that puck ring off the post and into the net, a smiling Hughes responded, “Just relief.”
“I’m really enjoying wearing the crest, playing with the superstars we have on this team, getting to know these guys, living in the [Olympic] Village,” Hughes said. ”You just want to extend it as long as you can.”
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With two minutes left in regulation, the Americans didn’t think they would need overtime heroics to set up a semifinal matchup against Slovakia. American goaltender Connor Hellebuyck had held strong, turning away all 28 shots that Sweden sent in his direction.
Then, with the Americans 91 seconds from the semifinals, the three-time Vezina Trophy winner finally buckled. Sweden’s Mika Zibanejad fired a shot from the faceoff circle that snuck through Hellebuyck to tie the game and force overtime.
“Anytime that happens, it can be tough but you’ve got to turn the page quick,” U.S. defender Noah Hanifin said. “Our leaders did a really good job of settling everyone down and the guys who were out there in overtime did a great job for us.”
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The last time the U.S. men’s hockey team captured Olympic gold, a group of college standouts and minor-league nobodies engineered the Miracle on Ice. Forty-six years later, the Americans boast the strongest roster they’ve ever brought to an Olympics and the belief that it is at last their time again.
For the Americans to advance to the gold medal match, they will first have to survive a semifinal matchup against upstart Slovakia. The Slovakians aren’t loaded with NHL talent like the other semifinalists, but they won a group that included both Sweden and Finland and then routed Germany on Wednesday morning to advance to the semifinals.
“It’s going to be an extremely hard test,” Matthews said. “They’ve been rolling, they’re competitive, they’re fast. It doesn’t matter how many superstars you have or whatnot. The desperation level is so high. It’s Game 7 every night now.”
In some ways, the Americans entered Wednesday in exactly the position they hoped to be. Placed in a group without another realistic medal contender, the U.S. comfortably dispatched of Germany, Latvia and Denmark to earn a bye to the quarterfinals as the No. 2 seed.
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And yet while the results were satisfactory, it seldom felt like the Americans played to their potential. They started slowly in all three games and their forwards didn’t consistently display the chemistry or firepower expected against lesser competition.
For the U.S., drawing Sweden in the quarterfinals provided an entirely different caliber of test. The Swedes are the other team besides the U.S. and Canada whose roster consists of nothing but NHL players. They’re one of the so-called Big Four. They beat the Americans last February during round-robin play at the Four Nations tournament.
Despite winning two of three preliminary games to finish in a tie with Slovenia and Finland atop its group, Sweden slipped to the No. 7 seed because of goal differential. The Swedes had to swat aside Latvia on Tuesday just to earn the right to meet the U.S. the following night.
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Which team would emerge battle-tested and better prepared for the meat of the tournament? And which would endure a sudden end to their gold medal pursuit? A scoreless opening period offered little in the way of answers. Both teams generated 10 shots apiece but very few threatening scoring chances.
The breakthrough arrived at last more than 11 minutes into the second period. American forward Dylan Larkin, parked directly in front of the Swedish net, deftly redirected a Jack Hughes shot from the point past Markstrom for the opening goal of the game.
Hellebuyck made that one-goal lead stand up for 58-plus minutes, a display of brilliance that underscored that the USA’s biggest advantage at these Olympics will be at the defensive end of the ice. While Canada’s forward corps is loaded with superstars, the Americans boast the tournament’s deepest group of defensemen and a goalie who is the reigning NHL MVP.
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Of course, one of those defensemen stepped up when the Americans needed an offensive spark too. The U.S. bench spilled onto the ice to mob Hughes after a goal that will be talked about for a long time if the Americans go on to win gold.
Matthew Tkachuk said he didn’t know if Hughes’ shot went in until he saw the defenseman celebrate and heard the crowd roar.
“It was definitely the highest I’ve jumped since my surgery,” said Tkachuk, who underwent offseason surgery to repair a torn adductor muscle and sports hernia.
For Hughes, the goal was a reminder of how grateful he is to have the opportunity to play in these Olympics after not getting the chance to help the U.S. last February.
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“I felt like I was playing great hockey at the time and wasn’t able to be there,” he said. “It sucked, but you move on. I’m here this time and I’m really enjoying it.”
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