American Jeremy Swayman allows a long-distance goal against Denmark at the Olympics

MILAN (AP) — In net for the U.S. against Denmark at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Saturday night, Jeremy Swayman gave up a goal from 95 feet out that could get talked about for years to come. 

Nicholas B. Jensen sent a seemingly harmless shot toward Swayman from just past the center red line. Swayman moved his glove, and the puck went in over his right shoulder.

“It was just the perfect height right between the stands and board level, and I truly lost it,” Swayman said after the U.S. came back to win 6-3. “Definitely one I went back, but at the same time, especially at this level, you’ve got to stay even-keeled. It’s one shot at a time and no matter how they go in, you’ve got to step up and stop the next one.”

That goal gave Denmark the lead 11 minutes in. Jensen had scored three goals in 11 years of international play before he took advantage of Swayman’s gaffe.

“First I wanted to dump it, and then I was like, ‘OK, I might as well just put it toward the net,’” Jensen said. “It’s hard to see with the bleachers, but no, I got lucky. And I appreciate he gave me that.”

Asked if he’d ever seen a goal like that, Denmark’s Lars Eller said, “It’s been a while.”

On the NBC broadcast, analyst and retired goalie Brian Boucher wondered if the dark color of the boards contributed to Swayman not being able to see where the shot came from. Swayman laughed it off, joking he’s colorblind, so it doesn’t matter.

“It’s something all of us always have to face and we play in different arenas every night in the NHL, so this is just one, another one, and it’s a challenge that we have to embrace,” Swayman said.

The goal brought back memories of Belarus’ Vladimir Kopat beating Sweden’s Tommy Salo at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City on a similar long-distance shot from center ice. That goal came with 2:24 left in the quarterfinals and was responsible for one of the biggest upsets in international hockey history.

Jack Eichel and Brady Tkachuk taking over the game ensured this wouldn’t be a U.S. loss put on Swayman, and teammates weren’t too worried about keeping the 27-year-old goalie’s spirits up.

“Funky bounce — you just move on,” said Eichel, who set up Tkachuk’s first of two goals and scored one of his own. “Sway is a confident man. He knows nine times out of 10 — or 99 times out of 100 — he’s going to have that. It’s a crazy play. … We don’t fault him.”

Coach Mike Sullivan said he never considered pulling Swayman, who allowed two goals on seven shots in the first period. Sullivan insisted Connor Hellebuyck, who figures to start Sunday night against Germany, dressing as the backup did not factor into his thinking.

“We believe in him,” Sullivan said. “He’s a good goalie.”

The U.S. coaching staff chose Swayman to start the second game against Denmark. Swayman was having perhaps the best NHL season of the three with the Boston Bruins and backstopped the U.S. to win the world championships last spring, and defenseman Zach Werenski thinks those achievements outweigh one bad goal.

“Stuff like that happens,” Werenski said. “I mean, the first one I score on him. It hits off my skate and goes in, and you just got to keep playing. … He’s been in big situations before, so he knows how to handle that. He bounced back great. It didn’t seem like there was any panic in his game, and I thought he played really well.”

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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics