Team Sweden left with 'bitterness and heartache' after OT Olympic ouster

MILAN – Lucas Raymond stayed down on his right knee below the goal line covering his face with his left hand, glove still on.

Jacob Markstrom, no more than 15 feet from Raymond, also was on his right knee in the crease, his head looking down to the ice.

Gabriel Landeskog had a blank stare into the distance.

Mika Zibanejad buried his head between his legs as he sat on the bench.

This is what disappointment looks like.

This is what it sounds like.

“I’ve talked all along about staying present, being right here, right now, and I’m not going to run away from the bitterness and heartache of this,” Landeskog said. “I’m going to sit in it for a little bit, accept it for what it is, and then the sun will rise tomorrow again.”

Team Sweden was eliminated from the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 with a 2-1 overtime loss to Team USA in the quarterfinals at Santagiulia Arena on Wednesday.

The harsh reality of it was still setting in as the Swedes were heading toward their dressing room.

“Just a lot of emotions,” Zibanejad said. “It’s not what we came here for. The way we played today, I thought – yeah, it’s tough.”

GAMECENTER SUMMARY: Sweden-USA

The Swedes came to Milan believing a gold medal was attainable.

They leave with heartbreak and questions.

What if they played better against Team Finland in their second game of the preliminary round instead of losing 4-1 on Friday?

What if they didn’t give up a late goal to Team Slovakia the next night?

Because of the goal differential tiebreaker, a 5-2 win would have automatically put Sweden in the quarterfinals. They instead won 5-3, meaning they had to play an extra game in the qualification round Tuesday just to earn the opportunity to play the U.S. in the quarterfinals.

“We didn’t make it easy on ourselves,” defenseman Erik Karlsson said. “I don’t think that we reached the potential we were hoping for right off the start. We had to fight for everything. We tried to make it a positive thing. Today, it was a tough game out there. They played really well. They’re a very good team. But we gave ourselves a chance to win this game and it [stinks] losing in overtime on a day where it’s do or die.”

But they got it to overtime because they did not wilt.

Down 1-0 on Dylan Larkin’s goal at 11:03 of the second period, the Swedes kept pushing, kept battling, kept the pressure on the Americans. They couldn’t crack U.S. goalie Connor Hellebuyck until finally Zibanejad buried a one-timer with 1:31 remaining in regulation.

Zibanejad threw his hands out and let out a scream. Sweden’s bench went bonkers as he went down the line fist bumping everyone.

It was pure elation, pure Olympic joy.

“It felt like we were in control,” Landeskog said. “It felt like we were going to tie it up, just a matter of time. Eventually we do. Then having been on the gas the majority of the third period it felt like we had the momentum, but also knowing that it’s 3-on-3, can go either way. It didn’t go our way, it’s as simple as that.”

Quinn Hughes ended it with a goal 3:27 into overtime, a perfect shot from between the circles past Markstrom’s glove, vanquishing Sweden’s joy and hope and belief, bringing the cruel reality into the picture.

“For me personally it’s really hard to find words,” Sweden coach Sam Hallam said. “The anticipation and expectations coming to the Olympics, the buildup, all preparations, all the emotions to it, the pride, you want to make the best out of it, especially you want to make your country proud. Extremely small margins here.”

Even worse, Sweden went through it all with one of its heart and soul leaders in uniform and on the bench but unable to play.

Victor Hedman sustained a lower-body injury in pregame warmups and could not play.

Hallam said the coaching staff briefly thought about replacing Hedman in the lineup with Rasmus Andersson, who was scratched, but since they had seven defensemen dressed, including Hedman, they would go with it and use the healthy six.

Hedman was on the bench the entire game, the 35-year-old knowing this would be his one and only Olympics and then watching it all evaporate without the ability to do anything about it.

“Talk about a heartbreaker,” Landeskog said. “We knew there was no place he’d rather be than on the ice competing with us. Forced to have to sit out, yeah, I was hurting for him. I really was and I still am. I know how long he’d been working toward this and looking forward to this. Yeah, that [stinks].”

It all does for the Swedes.

“You can say it’s just hockey, but that’s not true -- it’s our life,” Hallam said. “That’s the way it is. So, it’s a loss that’s tough to carry. Nobody is severely ill. There’s worse things in life. But this is something I know I’m going to carry with me as the same kind of feeling like something really bad happened.”