The dream of an Olympic gold medal lives on for the USA men’s hockey team thanks to some Milan Magic from Quinn Hughes.
The Minnesota Wild defenseman buried a shot into the back of the net in overtime to lift the United States to a 2-1 quarterfinal win over Sweden inside the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 18. It marked the end of the third quarterfinal of the day to reach overtime at the 2026 Winter Olympics, a first in Olympic history per NBC’s Mike Tirico.
Hughes’ goal came after the United States lost a 1-0 lead with 91 seconds remaining in the third period when Sweden’s Mika Zibanejad tied it. Hughes now has six points in four games for the United States.
The United States, which is looking for its first Olympic medal in the men’s hockey tournament since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, will now advance to the semifinals, where it will face Slovakia at 2:10 p.m. ET on Friday.
‘I felt like I had one earlier on the backhand there and I feel like I’m pretty good in open space, so I was just trying to create a shot for myself, and was able to do that,’ Hughes told NBC’s Kathryn Tappen following the game on what he saw on the play that led to his goal.
NBC’s broadcast mentioned several times that Hughes waved off a line change directive that was coming from the USA bench; he was on the ice for the last minute and 15 seconds of the game.
‘This whole tournament, it’s not about me. It’s about the group and in the moment I felt like I had an opportunity where I could do something,’ Hughes told Tappen on why he waved off the coaching staff.
Hughes also had an assist on Dylan Larkin’s first-period goal. He ends the day with two points for the United States.