The USA and Canada advanced to the Olympic men's ice hockey semifinals with overtime wins in the quarterfinals. Canada defeated the Czech Republic 4-3, while the USA beat Sweden 2-1. Both teams remain on course for a potential gold medal matchup.
In the Olympic men's ice hockey quarterfinals, the USA and Canada secured spots in the semifinals with overtime victories. Canada edged the Czech Republic 4-3, thanks to Mitch Marner's overtime goal. The game saw Macklin Celebrini score early for Canada, with Lukas Sedlak equalizing shortly after. David Pastrnak gave the Czechs the lead, but Nathan MacKinnon tied it in the second period on a power play. Ondrej Palat put the Czechs ahead again, only for Nick Suzuki to level with a long-range shot before Marner's winner.
Marner described the moment as 'adrenaline: trust in your skill that you work on so hard. You just trust yourself to make a play there, and I was lucky enough to score.' Canada's captain Sidney Crosby left with a leg injury but the team persevered.
The USA faced Sweden in Milan's Santagiulia Arena, taking the lead in the second period via Dylan Larkin's goal. Mika Zibanejad equalized in the third, forcing overtime. Quinn Hughes scored 3 minutes and 27 seconds in, clinching a 2-1 win amid celebrations from the US bench and thousands of supporters.
Semifinals pit Canada against reigning champions Finland on Friday, with the USA facing Slovakia. Finland advanced with a 3-2 overtime win over Switzerland, Artturi Lehkonen netting the decider. Slovakia dominated Germany 6-2, with Pavol Regenda scoring twice among goals from Milos Kelemen, Oliver Okuliar, Dalibor Dvorsky, and Tomas Tatar.
Both rosters feature National Hockey League players, marking their first Olympic appearance since 2014. Canada had beaten the Czechs 5-0 in preliminaries six days earlier, but this matchup proved much tougher.
