Mika Zibanejad Feels ‘Empty’ After Emotional Olympic Loss
· Yahoo Sports
Team USA and Team Sweden's quarterfinal matchup on Wednesday at the 2026 Olympics marked a true New York Rangers showdown.
Mike Sullivan serves as the coach for the Americans, while both J.T. Miller and Vincent Trocheck have been given the distinct honor to represent their country.
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Meanwhile, it was no surprise that Mika Zibanejad made the Swedish Olympic roster.
In the closing minutes of the game with the USA on the verge of punching their ticket to the semifinals up 1-0, Zibanejad scored a goal off of a one-timer, a familiar sight for Ranger fans.
According to Mollie Walker of The New York Post, Sullivan praised Zibanejad, calling his goal a “goal scorer's goal”.
Zibanejad helped push the two teams into a 10-minute 3-on-3 sudden-death where Quinn Hughes scored on Jacob Markström, propelling the Americans to a victory.
After the game, Zibanejad opened up about his emotions as he’s set to travel back to New York earlier than he would have liked without a medal in hand.
“Just empty. It's tough,” Zibanejad said following Sweden's Olympic loss via Walker. “I thought we pushed, we pushed through the whole third and obviously get the tying goal. Get ourselves to overtime. To see the puck go in for them and you know it's over, it's tough.”
On Friday, Team USA will take on Team Slovakia with a spot in the gold-medal match on the line.