Defiant Sweden ready for blockbuster men's hockey QFs with US

MILAN -- Sweden is undaunted ahead of a blockbuster quarterfinal meeting with the United States on Wednesday, as the team wearing the three crowns grasps for more gold in an Olympic men's ice hockey showdown few expected this early.

Sweden was widely favored to win its group and earn a bye to the quarterfinals, along with Canada and the United States, but was forced to contend in the qualification playoff round after slipping to the seventh seed in the preliminary stage.

It was a rare shock in a men's tournament that has largely stuck to the script in Milan, and Sweden swiftly shook off the disappointment to dispatch Latvia 5-1 on Tuesday and book its trip to the last eight.

"It doesn't matter how you get here, we're here now," said forward Adrian Kempe.

The Swedes' lone group-stage defeat to Finland put them on thin ice, and Slovakia sent them into the qualification playoff on goal differential in a competitive group that had reporters reaching for calculators to keep up with the tiebreak math.

But they showed another level at just the right time against Latvia, where they scored in quick succession in the first period and went on cruise control from there.

National Hockey League fans have been dreaming of a gold-medal game between Canada and the United States ever since the top-flight league announced it would return to the Olympic stage after a 12-year absence.

But Sweden will be all too happy to play the spoiler, as the team hits another gear in its Milan campaign to win gold for the first time since the Games were last in Italy 20 years ago in Turin.

"It's going to be a tough challenge but one we're prepared for," said Mika Zibanejad, who will see his New York Rangers teammates J.T. Miller and Vincent Trocheck on the other side of the ice and his NHL coach Mike Sullivan behind the U.S. bench in the meeting.

"Little by little it's been getting better, so that's a good sign."

--Reuters, special to Field Level Media