Sweden's men's ice hockey team, Tre Kronor, was eliminated from the Olympic tournament after a dramatic quarterfinal loss to the USA, 1–2 in sudden death. Quinn Hughes scored the winner 3.27 minutes into the three-on-three overtime. Captain Gabriel Landeskog criticized the unusual format as "terrifying" for an Olympic final.
In Santagiulia Arena in Milano, Tre Kronor's Olympic journey ended in the quarterfinal against the USA. The match finished 1–2 after overtime, with American defenseman Quinn Hughes scoring the decisive goal behind Jacob Markström 3.27 minutes into sudden death in the three-on-three format.
Sweden equalized late in the third period through Mika Zibanejad, who netted with 1.31 remaining after a diagonal pass from Lucas Raymond, with Markström pulled from the net. The USA's Dylan Larkin had given his team a 1–0 lead in the middle of the second period. Defenseman Victor Hedman was injured during warm-up and replaced by Hampus Lindholm, who performed solidly.
Captain Gabriel Landeskog criticized the three-on-three overtime format. "Terrifying to think that an Olympic final should be decided three on three", he said after the loss, suggesting five-on-five instead. He referenced the 2010 Vancouver Olympic final, decided in five-on-five. "What a classic it is", he added.
Head coach Sam Hallam agreed that the format should be reviewed for playoffs to ensure greater sporting fairness but emphasized that the USA won fairly. "We knew it was three on three, it was decided fair and square", he said. Hallam described the tournament as an uphill battle due to the weak group stage, including the loss to Finland and the late goal against Slovakia that forced an extra round-of-16 match against Latvia.
Defenseman Rasmus Dahlin called the elimination "worthless", while Landeskog said: "One is empty. Not how we expected it to end." The USA faces Slovakia in the semifinal on Friday.
