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The free bird flies high in Milan.
The U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team dominated Slovakia from start to finish on Friday, winning 6-2 to set up a gold medal matchup against archrival Canada.
Dylan Larkin got the scoring started early in the game and Tage Thompson found the back of the net in the closing moments of the first to put the Americans up 2-0.
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USA’s Jack Hughes (86) celebrates after scoring his second goal against Slovakia in the second period of a men’s ice hockey semifinal at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, on February 20, 2026. (Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo)
However, it was the second period that was dominant. Jack Hughes and Jack Eichel scored within 19 seconds of each other and Hughes scored again later to make it a 5-0 game. In the third, Brady Tkachuk added another one for good measure.
It will be the first time the Americans will play for gold since 2010, when they lost an overtime heartbreaker to Canada in Vancouver. Canada, which has won three gold medals in the Olympics featuring NHL players (1998-2014), earned its spot in the gold medal game after fighting back from a 2-0 deficit against Finland earlier Friday.
USA’s Jack Eichel (9) celebrates after scoring a goal against Slovakia during the second period of a men’s ice hockey semifinal at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, on February 20, 2026. (Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo)
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Looking ahead, the rivalry between the United States and Canada is one that, to put it bluntly, Canada has owned. It will be the eighth time the USA and Canada have played for Olympic gold, and the only time the Americans won was back in 1960. They also met for the gold in 1920, 1924, 1932, 1952, 2002 and 2010. In the best-of-best format, the USA is 1, 15 and 9 in the World Cup. of Hockey.
These two teams are already very familiar with each other, as both rosters are largely made up of the same members as last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off, where three fights occurred in the first nine seconds of the countries’ first best-versus-best game in nine years.
Tensions between both teams and the fans ran high in that tournament, fresh off President Donald Trump’s “51st state” comments. Canada eventually won the 4 Nations against the USA in an overtime thriller.
But this is the true big stage, and the Americans are looking not only for revenge, but also for bragging rights for four years.
USA’s Jack Eichel, center, celebrates with Brock Faber (14) and Jaccob Slavin (74) after Eichel scored a goal against Slovakia in the second period of a men’s ice hockey semifinal at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, on Feb. 20, 2026. (Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo)
The gold medal game takes place on Sunday — the 46th anniversary of the “Miracle on Ice” — at 8:10 a.m. ET.
