It was the poor group stage and the goal conceded with 39 seconds left against Slovakia that ultimately lay behind Sweden's exit.
This meant they missed a direct place in the quarter-finals and had to play an extra match, the round of 16 against Latvia on Tuesday evening.
In addition, the USA, one of the gold favourites, provided the opposition in the quarterfinals.
"Hard to digest. Feels like we've struggled a bit uphill in these Olympics," says Sam Hallam.
Earlier on Wednesday, for example, Slovakia had advanced after an easy victory over Germany.
The USA looked to be heading for victory - then came the Swedish equalizer.
With goalie Jacob Markström out, Mika Zibanejad was able to tie the game with just 1:31 left in the third period. But the goal only extended the game, as Quinn Hughes scored in overtime.
Started promisingly
Tre Kronor started the game promisingly and, above all, they closed down defensively. The pucks that reached veteran goalie Jacob Markström were taken care of by him.
Star defender Victor Hedman got a knock in the warm-up and was unable to play. Instead, Hampus Lindholm, of Boston, was substituted in and did well.
After a goalless first period, the Swedes stepped forward in the second and created several nice chances in front of Connor Hellebuyck, the Winnipeg goalie.
Lucas Raymond had a couple of good chances, but the American goalkeeper kept his team in it.
Instead, the USA struck. Raymond's teammate in Detroit, Dylan Larkin, scored to make it 1–0 just over halfway through the game, directly after a face-off.
In the third period, Jesper Bratt brought his usual speed and frenzy.
"You're empty"
For a long time it looked as if the USA would hold off despite a Swedish offensive push.
But finally the equalizer came. With goalkeeper Jacob Markström pulled, Mika Zibanejad was able to equalize after a long diagonal pass from Lucas Raymond.
The USA, with the feared brothers Matthew and Brady Tkachuk, experts at getting under the skin of their opponents, kept surprisingly calm. The physical play was limited to two tough hits in the first period by American defenseman Charlie McAvoy, first on Joel Eriksson Ek and then on team captain Gabriel Landeskog.
Both got up - but the final blow floored Sweden.
"You're empty. Not how we expected it to end, of course. But if you get into the game, you have to endure the game," says Landeskog to SVT.
The United States will face Slovakia in the semifinals on Friday.
