Team USA was stunned by Slovakia 3-2 in the men’s ice hockey quarterfinals at Beijing 2022 on Wednesday.
Slovakia, bidding for its first Olympic medal in the event, advanced to the last four after winning a nail-biting shootout in a dramatic conclusion to the game. The US held a 2-1 lead late in the third period, but a last-gasp goal by Slovakia’s Marek Hrivik tied the game with 43.7 seconds left of regulation time. Neither team could find the breakthrough during overtime and the goals continued to prove hard to come by in the shootout as well. Peter Cehlarik was the only man to convert his effort with Slovakia goalie Patrik Rybar stopping all five of Team USA’s shots. « I tried to focus on the way every player was going.
