USA defeats Canada for 2026 Olympic men’s hockey gold in overtime
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Canada controlled the pace of play throughout most of the second half of the game. But Jack Hughes scored the biggest goal of his career in overtime, with the United States of America winning the game 3-2.
The gold marks the United States’ first best-on-best gold since the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. It’s also USA’s first Olympic men’s gold since 1980. Canada, meanwhile, will snag its first medal since the 2018 Winter Games, with Canada taking home bronze in South Korea. Canada’s last silver came back in 1994, with the team winning gold in 2002, 2010 and 2014.
Canada controlled the shot count early in this one, but the Americans struck first. Matt Boldy scored one of the best goals of the tournament on USA’s first shot of the game, going between Cale Makar and Devon Toews before shooting it off the post and past Jordan Binnington to make it 1-0. Canada kept the pressure on the rest of the period, limiting USA’s attacking efforts, but it didn’t result in anything on the scoresheet.
But everything changed late in the second. Makar eventually was able to get Canada on the board after a strong second-period. The Colorado Avalanche defender beat a defender on the rush and then fired it top corner over Connor Hellebuyck, setting up a wild third period between the North American rivals.
The third period was as crazy as you’d expect. Canada controlled most of the chances, with Hellebuyck making the save of the tournament with a massive stick save on Toews early in the period. USA would get away without a penalty after briefly having seven players on the ice, but would get a four-minute power play with about six mintues to go after Sam Bennett clipped Brad Marchand in the face. Canada would get their own power play late in the game, but couldn’t capitalize – setting up a next-goal-wins situation in overtime.
It was there that Jack Hughes scored the biggest goal of his life. After a defensive miscue gave the puck back to the United States, Hughes was in the right spot to fire a shot past Binnington to win the game 3-2.
Canada
#50 Jordan Binnington, G (St. Louis Blues): Binnington allwoed a goal on his first shot against and then looked great the rest of the way. It felt like Binnington was a bit scrambly early, but that’s a trademark of his game. Once he figures it out and dials in, he’s extremely difficult to beat. USA didn’t test him too much, but it felt like most of their opportunities were quality chances.
#17 Macklin Celebrini, LW (San Jose Sharks): Celebrini was Canada’s best forward again tonight. He’ll probably have nightmares after getting stopped on the breakaway early in the third, but he was the one who continously created quality opportunities around the net. He loves to shoot, and was almost always one of Canada’s top shooters in any given game.
#29 Nathan MacKinnon, C (Colorado Avalanche): That third-period post hit will haunt him forever. But MacKinnon was one of the few forwards who proved capable of breaking past USA’s defensive effort to create chances. He had four shots in regulation and it felt like all were legitiamtely dangerous.
United States
#37 Connor Hellebuyck, G (Winnipeg Jets): Did Hellebuyck finally shed the “big-time choker” label? Hellebuyck did everything in his power to keep the Americans in this one. He gave the Canadians nothing to shoot at during the 5-on-3 penalty kill and then continued to dominate with his glove hand. The Canadians kept him extremely busy all game long, and he made the biggest save of the tournament with about two minutes off the board in the third with a massive stick stop on Toews.
#43 Quinn Hughes, D (Minnesota Wild): Hughes’ ability to slow the game down when he needs to, only to ramp it up at the other end, makes him so, so, so good. This wasn’t even his most effective game by any means, yet he was USA’s top defender. He eats minutes, smothers opponents and contributes offensively. What a two-week stretch it was for him.
#12 Matt Boldy, RW (Minnesota Wild): That 1-0 goal was incredible. The 2025 World Champion split between Cale Makar and Devon Toews – two of the best defenders in the tournament – and scored on USA’s first shot of the game. He then nearly scored on his second opportunity, which happened to be USA’s second shot, as well. Offense had been tough to come by at points for Boldy in Italy, but his effort every single night was tremendous.
#34 Auston Matthews, C (Toronto Maple Leafs): While Matthews didn’t score in this one, he was a beast defensively. He broke up three strong plays from the Canadian attackers in the first period alone, backchecking harder than any other forward out there. Matthews was USA’s top forward during the round robin but his offensive started to dry up in the medal round. Still, Matthews proved he could help out in his own zone better than most other forwards.
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