Slovakia in line to win Group B after late goal in loss to Sweden

MILAN (AP) — Dalibor Dvorsky’s goal with 39 seconds left may have sent Slovakia to the quarterfinals in men’s hockey at the Olympics as the winner of the group in a tiebreaker even after losing to Sweden 5-3 on Saturday in each team’s final preliminary round game.

Slovakia wins Group B as long as Finland beats host Italy later in the day because of goal differential among the three tied teams. Finland is a substantial favorite.

“It’s probably the best loss I ever had,” said Slovakia’s Juraj Slafkovsky, the reigning Olympic MVP who’s tied with Canada’s Connor McDavid for the most points in the tournament with six apiece. ““It’s crazy, but we take it.”

Dvorsky, who plays for the St. Louis Blues in the NHL, also called it the best loss of his life. His goal on the power play after a penalty on Lucas Raymond made it happen.

“We all know what we need to do on the ice,” Dvorsky said. “There was not too much tactics, right? And at this point of the game, just try to get pucks to the net. And at the end, it was a rebound that was the goal.”

Sweden, which played much better than it had in its 4-1 loss to archrival Finland on Friday, was left to lament a missed opportunity even after winning the game. Coach Sam Hallam pulled goaltender Jacob Markstrom in the final seconds while leading by two goals because of the tiebreaker, but Sweden did not score again.

“Tough pill to swallow,” alternate captain Victor Hedman said. “But we will regroup. We’ll be ready for our next challenge.’’

Markstrom stopped 29 of the 32 shots he faced and may have supplanted Filip Gustavsson as Sweden’s starter moving forward. Unless Italy somehow beats Finland or gets the game to overtime, Sweden will have to play in the qualification round Tuesday in order to reach the quarterfinals on Wednesday.

The U.S. plays Denmark on Saturday night looking to keep pace with unbeaten Canada in the race for the top seed.