Feb. 22, 2026 — Milan, Italy The United States men’s ice hockey team captured its first Olympic gold medal in 46 years, defeating Canada 2-1 in overtime in the gold medal final at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
Jack Hughes scored the game-winning goal at 1:41 of 3-on-3 overtime, receiving a pass from Zach Werenski and slipping the puck through the legs of Canadian goaltender Jordan Binnington for a 2-1 victory. U.S. goaltender Connor Hellebuyck anchored the win with 41 saves, including a third-period stick save on Devon Toews’ empty-net attempt that forced overtime, as detailed in the NHL.com recap.
Matt Boldy opened the scoring for the U.S. at 6:00 of the first period, deking past Binnington for a 1-0 lead, assisted by Quinn Hughes and Auston Matthews. Cale Makar tied it at 1-1 with a snap shot at 18:16 of the second period. Hellebuyck stopped all 14 shots in the third period to preserve the tie, while Binnington made 26 saves overall, according to Olympics.com.
The victory marked the third U.S. men’s Olympic gold, matching the 1960 Squaw Valley and 1980 Lake Placid triumphs, occurring on the 46th anniversary of the “Miracle on Ice” win over the Soviet Union. Canada captain Sidney Crosby sat out due to a lower-body injury.
“I can’t even believe this… It’s an unbelievable win for the Americans.”
“Unbelievable game by Hellebuyck. He was our best player tonight by a mile. That’s just a gutsy win. That’s American hockey right there.”
— Jack Hughes, via Olympics.com
“Oh my gosh, they will be talking about this performance for generations… It’ll go down as one of the best performances of all-time, right up there with Jimmy Craig.”
The team honored the late Johnny Gaudreau, carrying his jersey onto the ice and including his children in the group photo, as noted by USA Hockey and Olympics.com.
Canada coach Jon Cooper praised the matchup: “> In the big picture, the real winner of this tournament was ice hockey,” per Olympics.com.
The game trended heavily on X, with posts from the Washington Post garnering 390 likes and the Wall Street Journal receiving over 1,300 likes on coverage of Hughes’ dramatic goal. Additional recaps appeared in ESPN, USA Today, and The Athletic.
The U.S. women’s team also won gold earlier, sweeping the medals for the first time, according to CBS Sports.
