MILAN — Color them red, white and golden.
Two weeks after they arrived at the 2026 Winter Games determined to embrace the experience, the USA men’s team had the most fun of all, bringing home a gold medal for the first time since the “Miracle on Ice” squad in 1980.
Best of all, the Americans can say they did so by having to go through Canada to get to the podium’s highest position. USA defeated Canada, 2-1 in overtime on a goal by Jack Hughes. Equipment littered the ice Sunday, Feb. 22 at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena as the Americans leapt over the bench to mob their teammates. The men won three days after the USA women defeated Canada in that hockey tournament.
Sunday’s game marked the third time the countries met for the gold medal since the NHL has been sending its players to the Olympics, with Canada winning in 2002 and 2010.
This year’s match came 46 years to the day since USA upset the mighty Soviet Union in a semifinal at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. That U.S. team was composed mostly of amateurs. The teams that met in the final game in 2026 were stacked with stars, 25 NHLers deep on each side.
The Canadians took a 27-16 edge in shots into the third period. Connor Hellebuyck made a huge save on Devon Toews, who was at the crease when he fired a shot that rolled off Hellebuyck’s stick. Hellebuyck had to come up big minutes later when Macklin Celebrini had a breakaway. Nathan MacKinnon had a shot from just outside the crease to the left but sent the puck off the netting as Canada ran up a 10-2 edge in shots, 29-10 since the start of the second period at the midpoint of the third period.
Sam Bennett’s blatant high-stick on Jack Hughes gave USA a four-minute power play with about six minutes to play in the third period. Jake Guentzel had a good shot from the slot denied by Jordan Binnington. The last 49 seconds of the power play was wiped out when Jack Hughes was called for clipping Bo Horvat. Charlie McAvoy turned the puck over to Connor McDavid at the centerline, but USA survived that turnover.
USA had a strong start, buzzing around Canada’s zone, but couldn’t get a shot on Jordan Binnington. The teams got into it around Hellebuyck’s net, with officials quickly ending a scrum.
The crowd was into every shift, with the majority Canadian fans cheering when Tom Wilson delivered a big hit on Dylan Larkin behind USA’s net.
U-S-A cheers rang out when Matt Boldy shredded Canada’s top defense pair of Cale Makar and Devon Toews, flipped the puck to himself and scored at the six-minute mark, on what was the Americans’ first shot on net. USA generated more zone time in the second half of the period, getting to eight shots on net.
It was all Canada when the second period began, as they controlled the puck and kept play in the U.S. zone. USA rallied and forced play into Canada’s zone, where Dylan Larkin hounded the puck and made a pass Tage Thompson turned into an excellent chance.
Connor McDavid, wearing the “C” in lieu of Crosby, had a breakaway, deking to his forehand, backhand and forehand, but Hellebuyck put his pad down and denied the chance.
USA looked in trouble when Charlie McAvoy was called for hooking 27 seconds after Jake Guentzel was called for holding, giving Canada 93 seconds with a two-man advantage. But a flow of penalty killers including Larkin, Vincent Trocheck and J.T. Miller helped Hellebuyck keep the Canadians at bay.
There was 1:44 left in the second period when Cale Makar scored on a shot from the right circle to tie the game. Brock Faber nearly put USA back up, but his shot double-doinked off the posts, leaving it 1-1 going after two periods.