Slavin's defensive mastery helped preserve a narrow win, as Team USA battled through overtime and advanced, showcasing grit against Sweden.
Despite a last minute scare, Team USA managed to advance past Team Sweden in the 2026 Milan Winter Olympics, winning 2-1 in overtime thanks to a Quinn Hughes goal.
The USA led for nearly 30 minutes after a second period goal, but Sweden managed to get on the board with an extra attacker with just 1:31 left in regulation.
The Americans probably could have finished out the game in 60 minutes though if they had just followed one simple principle: play Jaccob Slavin when you want to protect a lead.
Slavin had another great showing on the international stage, logging 18:10 (an Olympic high) in the win.
The Carolina Hurricanes star defenseman just has a way of erasing plays with such ease and he was able to neutralize quite a few Swedish chances, including a 2-on-1 late in the game.
The crazy thing is that Slavin got a piece of the initial shot, the rebound popped back out to the other guy and then he got a piece of that one too.
He's one of the best defensive defensemen in the entire NHL and the more he plays on this type of stage, the more clear that becomes.
Now he'll try and help the Americans advance to the gold medal match as they are set to face Team Slovakia in the semifinals.
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