Connor Hellebuick isn’t dwelling on his goal after beating Sweden
Team USA beat Sweden 2-1 in overtime on Wednesday, thanks to Connor Hellebuick’s clutch performance in netsending the team to the semifinals of the Winter Olympics.
Hellebuyck stopped 28 of 29 shots, posting a .966 save percentage in the quarterfinals at the Milano Santagiuli Arena. Sweden came to the USA with 29 total shots and even outscored them 10–3 in the third, but the American goalie held strong, allowing only Mika Zibanejad’s empty net with 1:31 left. In overtime, Team Sweden failed to register a single shot, while the United States generated six.
After the win, Hellebuick made his goal clear:
“We didn’t come for an Olympic medal, we came for a big one.”
Through three Olympic appearances, Hellebuick has conceded just three goals, stopping 68 of 71 shots. He leads the men’s tournament with a 0.98 goals-against average and a .958 save percentage. In the quarterfinals, he played against a Swedish team with 25 NHL players, in a game in which all 50 skaters were from the league.
This was night and day compared to his recent playoff numbers in the NHL. During his last three postseason runs with the Winnipeg JetsHellebuick posted a .872 save percentage and 3.60 goals-against average in 23 games. In last season’s playoffs, he posted a 3.08 GAA and .866 save percentage, the lowest among goaltenders who played more than four games.
At 11:03 of the second period on Wednesday, Dylan Larkin opened the scoring by deflecting a shot from Quinn Hughes and Jack Hughes past Sweden goaltender Jacob Markstrom. The United States outshot Sweden 40–29 overall and 20–9 in the second period. Team Sweden tied the game seven seconds after pulling Markstrom for the extra attacker. In overtime, Quinn Hughes finished the contest at 3:27, beating Markstrom after he was on the ice for 2:03 of the extra frame.
Team USA, 0-for-2 on the power play in the game while Sweden was 0-for-1, now advances to face Slovakia in the semifinals on Friday with a spot in the gold medal game at stake.
2026-02-19 08:33:00
