The United States and Canada men’s ice hockey teams will play for the gold medal on Sunday’s final day of the Milano Cortina Games after both teams came through semi-final contests of varying difficulty on Friday evening, setting up a blockbuster final in the first Olympic tournament to feature National Hockey League players in 12 years.
Canada left things late in the first game, fighting back from two goals down to win 3-2 over Finland on Nathan MacKinnon’s winner with 35.2 seconds remaining. The US made far lighter work of Slovakia in the nightcap to set up the heavyweight clash, strolling to a 6-2 win after Jack Hughes and Jack Eichel scored in a 19-second span during the second period to blow things open, ensuring the Americans no worse than silver and their first men’s hockey medal in 16 years.
“When we started this journey last summer and got together for an orientation camp, our goal was to be in the gold medal game,” Eichel said. “That’s where we are at.”
The Americans are targeting their third ever Olympic title in men’s hockey and first since the Miracle on Ice team of 1980, while Canada can win a record-extending 10th. The eagerly awaited matchup will mark the third time the border rivals have met in the gold medal game and the first since 2010, when Sidney Crosby etched his name into Olympic lore by scoring in overtime to seal a 3-2 win over the Americans on home soil.
Crosby, 38, is still in the Canada squad four Olympics later, but he did not dress for Friday’s game after leaving Wednesday’s quarter-final win over the Czech Republic in the second period with a lower-back injury. No details about the two-time Olympic gold medalist’s injury have been released and the severity remains unclear, but Canada coach Jon Cooper said “he’s got a better chance of playing in the gold medal game than he had of playing in tonight’s game”.
“We are a deep team, and we have leaders up and down the lineup,” Canada star Connor McDavid said. “It does not matter who is wearing the C, everybody can play and play a big role and lead.”
Canada found themselves staring down elimination on Friday for a second straight knockout game after Erik Haula’s short-handed goal fired the Finns to a 2-0 lead early in the second period.
But forward Sam Reinhart pulled one back before the second intermission for the Canadians, while defenseman Shea Theodore notched the third-period equalizer. Then after MacKinnon drew a high sticking penalty from Niko Mikkola, the Colorado Avalanche star fired home the winner in the final minute, improving Canada’s dominant power play to 7-for-16 (43.75%) in the tournament.
“It’s everything,” said MacKinnon, the NHL’s leading goalscorer. “It’s the gold medal at an Olympic Games. We are very lucky to be here and it’s a great opportunity. We have got to be ready.”
The US ran out to a 5-0 lead behind goals from Dylan Larkin and Tage Thompson in the first period, then Hughes (twice) and Eichel in the second. The Slovaks narrowed the gap in the third through goals from rising Montreal Canadiens star Juraj Slafkovsky and Pavol Regenda, but Brady Tkachuk’s breakaway goal with nine minutes left kept matters on course.
“It’s the two best teams in the tournament, both undefeated, and we’ve got an opportunity to go win a gold medal.” Hughes said. “I’m really excited about the opportunity we have on Sunday. We’re one shot away [from gold], but the line between winning and losing is so fine in tournaments like this.
“Both teams have earned their right to be in the final game and a chance to play for a gold medal. Here we are, we’re going to find out who the best team at the Olympics is.”
The US and Canada are two of the only three teams in the Olympic tournament, along with quarter-finalists Sweden, made up exclusively of NHL players.
The matchup comes one year after the North American rivals played twice in the 4 Nations Face-Off, which was the first international tournament to feature the NHL’s best players since 2016. The Americans won 3-1 in the round-robin contest played at Montreal’s Bell Centre that saw the US anthem booed and featured three fights in the first nine seconds, while Canada won the final 3-2 in overtime at Boston’s TD Garden.
“It’s best on best, it’s what every American and Canadian grows up watching, grows up hearing about,” Matthew Tkachuk said. “This is the pinnacle of the sport. This is as good as it gets, a rivalry that’s as good as it gets. There will not be one TV without this game on in the United States and Canada. That should get you pretty fired up.”
The elder Tkachuk may not be exaggerating. No sooner had Canada punched their ticket for the final than Ontario premier Doug Ford announced all restaurants in the nation’s most populous province can serve alcohol beginning at 6am on Sunday ahead of the scheduled 8.10am ET start.
Italian media outlets have been humming for days with reports that US president Donald Trump has mulled flying in for the final and the closing ceremony in Verona. For now they may have to settle for FBI director Kash Patel, who arrived in Italy on Thursday and took in the United States’ semi-final win from the stands on Friday evening.
