USA vs. Sweden: 3 Rangers stars to meet in Olympic quarterfinal clash
The last of the quarterfinal games in the men’s hockey tournament at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics will have a definite New York Rangers feeling to it Wednesday. That’s because three Rangers players and two coaches are involved when the United States faces off against Sweden.
The U.S. squad features Rangers captain J.T. Miller and veteran center Vincent Trocheck. It’s coached by Rangers coach Mike Sullivan, with assistant David Quinn serving the same role behind Team USA’s bench.
On the other side of the ice, wearing the yellow and royal blue Tre Kronor sweater, is the longest-tenured current Rangers player, forward Mika Zibanejad.
All that’s missing is Joe Tolleson on the PA mic and maybe a “Potvin S***s” chant or two because this will have a big-game Madison Square Garden vibe to it, albeit roughly 4,000 miles away in Italy.
Zibanejad scored a goal and added an assist Tuesday to help Sweden knock out Latvia 5-1 in the qualifier play-off. That allowed Sweden to move into the quarterfinals against the United States, the No. 2 overall seed after winning Group C with a perfect 3-0-0-0 record in the preliminary round.
Sweden was 2-1-0-0 in the prelims and missed out on a bye into the quarterfinals by one goal, losing the tiebreaker with Slovakia. Canada, the United States, Finland, and Slovakia earned byes into the quarters.
Mike Zibanejad leads Sweden to showdown against Rangers teammates J.T. Miller, Vincent Trocheck & Team USA
Zibanejad has five points (two goals, three assists) in four games, tied for second on Sweden. He finished off a give-and-go with Lucas Raymond at 5:54 of the third period Tuesday to give Sweden a 4-1 lead over Latvia. It was one of three assists for Raymond, who leads Sweden with eight points (one goal, seven assists).
The 32-year-old Rangers forward also had the secondary assist on Gabriel Landeskog’s goal 11:36 into the first period which made it 2-0 Sweden. Zibanejad sent a long shot toward the net after a Latvia turnover, and Raymond collected the puck in front, kicked it to Landeskog, and the Colorado Avalanche captain finished off the scoring play.
It was the second multi-point game for Zibanejad, who had a goal and an assist in Sweden’s tournament-opening 5-2 win over Italy last week. It’s been a continuation of his strong plat back in North America this season, where Zibanejad leads the Rangers with 23 goals and is second with 52 points in 56 games.
Where Zibanejad plays a top-nine forward role for Sweden and on their power-play, Miller is on the fourth line for the U.S. and Trocheck is the extra forward — since teams dress 20 skaters in international competition. However, Miller and Trocheck are on Team USA’s top penalty-killing unit and a big reason the United States is a perfect 9-for-9 on the kill so far in the tournament.
Trocheck also has two assists in the Olympics, picking up one in each of the first two games — wins over Latvia and Denmark. Miller is without a point in these Winter Games.
It’s the first time in 12 years the NHL allowed its players to take part in the Olympics. So, Zibanejad, Miller, and Trocheck each represents his country for the first time on the biggest international stage in these Olympics.
Men’s hockey quarterfinals schedule and times for 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics
Wednesday, February 18
Slovakia vs. Germany (6:10 a.m.)
Canada vs. Czechia (10:40 a.m.)
Finland vs. Switzerland (12:10 p.m.)
United States vs. Sweden (3:10 p.m.)
*All times ET
