The same disaster that flirted with Canada early in the day was sniffing around Team USA on Wednesday. But like their archrivals, the Americans were able to sidestep it and move on in the Olympic tournament in Milan, Italy.

After the US, allowed a late equalizer, Quinn Hughes kept the Americans’ gold medal hopes alive with an overtime goal at 3:27 of the extra session to lift Team USA to a heart-stopping 2-1 victory over Sweden in the quarterfinals. The crafty, sublimely skilled Minnesota defenseman took a serpentine route with the puck out high before moving into the slot and ripping a wrist shot off the past and past goalie Jacob Markstrom.

That ended a white-knuckle day of hockey. The US now advances to the semifinal against tournament Cinderella Slovakia on Friday

Earlier in the day, Canada escaped what would have been a mammoth upset when they tied David Pastrnak’s Czechia team late in the third period and then won it overtime on Mitch Marner’s backhander, sending them to Friday’s semifinal against Finland, who also advanced with an overtime win over Switzerland.

The first period was scoreless and evenly played, with the two teams each getting 10 shots on net. The US had the only power play in the first 20 minutes but could neither convert nor create sustained pressure. In fact, most of their chances were one-and-done with little net-front presence in front of Swedish goalie Jacob Markstrom.

Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy was playing his first game without the bubble that he’s been wearing since coming back from the broken jaw he suffered on November 15. He wasn’t shy in getting physical, either, as he delivered a couple of big hits in the first period.

One of the Swede’s top defensemen, Victor Hedman, dressed and was on the bench but did not play in the first period and then it was announced that he had suffered a lower body injury during warmups. That allowed Hampus Lindholm, a late injury replacement, to see his first Olympic action.

As the action wore on in the second period, it was clear that the US would not have an easy time against the detail-oriented Swedes. The Tre Kronor got the first great chance of the game when Gabriel Landeskog made a terrific backhand pass to Lucas Raymond for what looked like a backdoor tap-in, but Connor Hellebuyck flashed the left pad for a terrific save.

Every save felt huge because the prospect of trying to come back against the Swedes, always strong defensively, was not an appetizing one.

And at 11:03 of the second, the Americans finally broke the ice. Dylan Larkin beat Bruin Elias Lindholm in a faceoff to the right of Markstrom and headed to the net. From the top of the zone, Jack Hughes blasted a shot that Markstrom could have stopped easily if it had gotten through. But Larkin was at the top of the crease to deflect it past the netminder for the 1-0 lead.

The Yanks then started to push the play from there the rest of the period. They outshot the Swedes, 20-8, in the second. But Markstrom stood tall to keep the Swedes within striking distance. The US had a late power play on a Hampus Lindholm penalty, but Sweden managed to kill it off to get to the third period down by just a goal.

The US was challenged early in the third when Vincent Trocheck tripped Landeskog to give Sweden its first power play but the Americans were able to kill it.

The Swedes, however, got some jump from the man advantage and, combined with the Americans’ willingness to chip out the puck most of the time, they spent much of the period inside the US zone. With 2:30 left in regulation,  Adrian Kempe nearly tied it up when he had a clean shot from the slot but he hit the post.

But with 1:31 remaining in regulation, the Swedes tied it up. With Markstrom pulled for an extra skater, Raymond sent a tremendous pass to Mika Zibanejad, who blasted a one-timer through Hellebuyck’s shortside.

The US was able to shake that off, regain its composure and prevail.