It was Dylan Larkin and Team USA who got the last laugh over Lucas Raymond and Team Sweden on Wednesday afternoon in the quarterfinals.
Detroit Red Wings teammates Dylan Larkin of Team USA and Lucas Raymond of Team Sweden faced off against one another in Olympic quarterfinal action on Wednesday afternoon in what was the third straight overtime thriller of the day.
In the end, it was Larkin and Team USA who advanced to play Slovakia in the semifinals on Friday, thanks to an overtime game-winning goal from former Michigan Wolverines defenseman Quinn Hughes.
While the United States prepares to face Slovakia, Canada, who defeated Czechia in overtime, will take on Finland, who had earlier beat Switzerland in overtime.
Sweden's loss marked the end of a terrific Olympic debut for Raymond, who finished with nine points, second only to Canada’s Connor McDavid.
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Both Dylan Larkin and Raymond contributed to their teams’ goals during regulation. Larkin opened the scoring by deflecting a pass from Jack Hughes past goaltender Jacob Markstrom after winning an offensive-zone faceoff; it was his first goal of the Olympics and his second point overall.
With Sweden pressing for the equalizer late in regulation and Markstrom pulled for an extra attacker, Raymond displayed his elite vision, delivering a perfect cross-ice pass to Mika Zibanejad, who fired a one-timer past goaltender Connor Hellebuyck to tie the game at 1-1.
Sudden-death overtime commenced, which was controlled largely by Team USA.
Eventually, it was Hughes who took advantage of an opportunity by maneuvering inside the Swedish blue line after taking a pass from Matt Boldy and firing a snap shot past the glove of an outstretched Markstrom, securing victory for the United States.
Now eliminated from the Olympics, Raymond will return to Detroit to rejoin the Detroit Red Wings, who have resumed practice in preparation for the NHL schedule to restart Feb. 26 against the Ottawa Senators.
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