Slovakia Eliminates U.S. Men’s Hockey in Olympic Quarterfinal Shootout

The U.S. entered the quarterfinals as the top seed, but blew a lead late in the third period.

BEIJING (AP) — The United States is out of the men’s hockey tournament at the Olympics in stunning fashion after blowing a late lead.

Marek Hrivik scored with 43.7 seconds left in regulation, Peter Cehlarik had the winner and Slovakia beat the U.S. 3-2 in a shootout Wednesday to knock the top-seeded Americans out in the quarterfinals. The U.S. led for almost half the game before the tying goal when Slovakia pulled its goaltender for an extra attacker to play 6-on-5.

The U.S. had gotten accustomed to playing tight games in the tournament, beating Canada by two goals and Germany by one. But blown coverage in front allowed Hrivik to knock a loose puck past goalie Strauss Mann, who was impressive until that point.

Coming up empty on four power plays, including three in the third period, came back to bite the Americans. Matty Beniers hit the post on one of the best scoring chances the U.S. had in the third, but the team could not crack Patrik Rybar, who was playing a second consecutive day in net for Slovakia.

Juraj Slafkovsky scored the first goal for Slovakia, the 17-year-old forward’s tournament-leading fifth. He is expected to be a top-10 pick in the NHL draft this summer.

The U.S. goals by Nick Abruzzese and Sam Hentges came on textbook passing plays. Abruzzese’s goal 7:26 after Slafkovsky scored tied it, and Hentges put the U.S. ahead near the midway point of the second period.

Top-line winger Brian O’Neill was lost for the rest of the game in the second, when he took a puck off his left foot. Defenseman Jake Sanderson missed a second consecutive game with an undisclosed injury.

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Slovakia, coached by longtime NHL assistant Craig Ramsay, will face either Finland, the Russians, Sweden, Canada or Denmark in the semifinals Friday. The gold-medal game is Sunday.

The U.S. was eliminated in a shootout in the quarterfinals for the second consecutive Olympics lacking NHL players. The 2018 team was knocked out by the Czech Republic.

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