The men's hockey tournament of the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milano Cortina is down to the semi-final. The event began with seven New Jersey Devils, but it was cut to just two on Wednesday after four games.
The first game of the day featured Simon Nemec and Team Slovakia against Team Germany. This was expected to be a close matchup between two tournament dark horses, but Slovakia dominated the game and cruised to victory.
Nemec didn't have a point from the back-end in this one, but he played a key role in helping shut down some of Germany's top players. Their coach has tremendous trust in Nemec, who has shown exactly why he was a second overall pick throughout the tournament.
The second game didn't feature any Devils, but it was one of the best matches you'll watch all season long. Team Canada pulled out a big win in overtime over Czechia.
Tied at two, former Devils player Ondrej Palat gave Czechia the lead with less than eight minutes remaining in regulation. With less than four minutes remaining, Nick Suzuki tied it for Canada, and then Mitch Marner won it in overtime.
Nico Hischier and Switzerland are out, but two Devils stars are still alive
Team Switzerland, which features Nico Hischier, Timo Meier, and Jonas Siegenthaler, took on Team Finland in the third game. Although they had a 2-0 lead early on, the Swiss were overwhelmed late and allowed the Finns to tie it with the goalie pulled.
Eventually, the Finns ended the Olympic run for the Swiss, who have a lot to be proud of as a hockey country these days. Finland has a roster loaded with NHL talent, and they have an effort-based system that's hard to beat. The Swiss hung in there, and the three Devils were pivotal in that quest.
The finale of the day was Jack Hughes and the United States against Jesper Bratt, Jacob Markstrom, and Sweden. Markstrom was in the net for Sweden, as he took over the clear-cut number one role for that team in this tournament.
Team USA took a 1-0 lead when Dylan Larkin tipped in a Jack Hughes shot. Larkin won the face-off back to Quinn Hughes, who handed it to Jack, who blasted one off Larkin's stick and into the net.
Sweden tied it up with Markstrom on the bench for the extra attacker, forcing overtime in the game. That is where Team USA found their next hockey hero.
Quinn Hughes scored the overtime winner in 3-on-3, and Team USA avoided a major disaster. Now Quinn and his brother Jack will advance together to play in the semi-final.
The way that Team Sweden used their lineup was bizarre throughout the tournament. In this game, one of the weird moves made was the fact that Jesper Bratt was dressed but didn't take a single shift in the first two periods.
Bratt finally got a shift in the third, dominated it, and then was playing regularly for the rest of the game, including overtime. Maybe Sweden would have scored more than one goal if they hadn't left one of their best offensive players on the bench for 40 minutes of game clock.
Hughes and Nemec will face off in the second game of the day on Friday. The winner will face the winner of Canada and Finland for the gold on Sunday.
This was a notable tournament for every Devils player. Markstrom took over the net for Sweden, and all of the skaters made major impacts. Honestly, it's not a good look for the Devils, who have had a poor year with these star players as a part of their core. They should be better than they are. These Olympics must open some eyes about their management team.