The United States beat Canada 2-1 in overtime in the Olympic men’s hockey gold-medal game Sunday.
Jack Hughes scored the winning goal, his fourth of the tournament.
Connor Hellebuyck starred for the Americans with 41 saves.
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The victory marks Team USA’s first gold medal in men’s hockey since the “Miracle on Ice” in 1980 and its third ever.
“It’s (1980 goal-scorer) Mike Eruzione and then Jack Hughes right there,” American captain Auston Matthews told CBC’s Kyle Bukauskas postgame. “That’s special. I can’t imagine what he was feeling in the box there at the end of the third. But I mean, he’s an incredible player, incredible person, and just a big-time play right there at the end.”
The United States’ Matt Boldy opened the scoring six minutes into the game. The Americans held a slim 1-0 lead until Cale Makar evened the contest with under two minutes left in the second period.
Canada outshot the U.S. 33-18 during the second and third frames but couldn’t draw ahead.
With less than seven minutes left in regulation, Sam Bennett caught Hughes with a high stick, knocking some of his teeth out in the process. It resulted in a four-minute power play that the U.S. couldn’t convert on. Hughes then took a high-sticking penalty of his own with 3:23 remaining, but Canada also didn’t score on the man advantage.
The U.S. ended the tournament 17-for-17 on the penalty kill.
“We heard all the talk, that we shouldn’t be here,” said Team USA forward Vincent Trocheck, a key penalty killer whose place on the roster was heavily debated, according to the New York Post’s Mollie Walker. “We were able to come here, and we had a job to do, and it was to be good penalty kill guys, faceoff guys, character guys. We took that role and we ran with it.”
Team USA brought Johnny Gaudreau’s jersey on the ice to celebrate after the win. Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, died in August 2024 after being struck by a drunk driver while riding bicycles.
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“(Gaudreau’s) been on everybody’s mind,” Matthews said. “We have his jersey in the locker room every game. So many guys on this team that grew up with him, that played with him, extremely close with him. He’s here with us in spirit.”
Canada had won the previous two Olympic gold medals in tournaments featuring NHL players. It hadn’t lost in a gold-medal game since 1994.
Team USA lost to Canada in the championship game of the 4 Nations Face-Off last year.
The U.S. women’s hockey team also beat Canada to win gold Thursday.
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