When Nathan MacKinnon deked Henrik Lundqvist out for a highlight-reel overtime goal and got mobbed by teammates, he couldn’t be happier.

Minutes later, MacKinnon found out that the 4-3 victory over Sweden on Wednesday wasn’t enough to get Team North America into the semifinals at the World Cup of Hockey. The most exciting show on ice has two victories and a one-goal loss but needs Finland to beat Russia on Thursday to advance.

“Maybe we shouldn’t have celebrated so hard,” MacKinnon said.

Everything the 23-and-under Team North America does is over the top, most importantly the skill that has made it the focus of the World Cup. Despite playing the two most entertaining games of the tournament, North America is in wait-and-see mode while Sweden is the winner of Group B after getting the point it needed.

Henrik Lundqvist stopped 45 of 49 shots to get Sweden into the semifinals after a horrendous start by the skaters in front of him.

“We gave him a rough start,” said two-time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson, who fell victim to the speed of North America’s Connor McDavid and Johnny Gaudreau early. “As a goaltender, I don’t think I can even imagine how it feels to be that kind of left alone and let in two quick goals. How we can rebound from that I have no idea.”

Auston Matthews scored on a 2-on-1 with McDavid 30 seconds in, and Vincent Trocheck made it 2-0 North America 95 seconds in. Lundqvist stopped a few breakaways and Gaudreau’s penalty shot to keep it from getting out of hand.

Sweden eventually got a handle on North America’s blazing speed, which made the best defense in the tournament look pedestrian.

“We had no choice. We had to. Otherwise it was going to be a disaster,” Karlsson said. “They gave us a slap in the face right away.”