Updated February 22, 2026 at 12:10 PM CST
MILAN — The U.S. men's hockey team won the Olympic gold medal, its first in 46 long years, after a thrilling overtime final against its rival Canada.
In the end, the Americans won 2-1 on an overtime goal by forward Jack Hughes — an overtime that was only possible after goaltender Connor Hellebuyck delivered a heroic performance in regulation that kept the Americans' dreams alive. Hellebuyck ended the game with 41 saves compared to only 28 total shots on the Canadians' goal by his teammates.
"We're going to be talking about this performance for generations. It was an all-time performance from a superstar at his position," said Hellebuyck's teammate, winger Matthew Tkachuk. "It's going to go down as one of the best performances of all time."
The U.S. had been waiting nearly half a century for this chance at an Olympic men's ice hockey gold medal, this chance to proclaim that the Americans are just as much a hockey powerhouse as any country.
The return of NHL players to the Olympics had raised hopes for the first U.S. gold in men's ice hockey since 1980, when an underdog American squad toppled the Soviet Union for the gold in the "Miracle on Ice."
Sunday's gold medal is only the third all-time for the U.S. Canada leaves with the silver medal, its fifth all-time.
The Americans found the net first, when a flying Matt Boldy chipped the puck to himself as he fought through two Canadian defenders, then slipped the puck past Canada's goaltender Jordan Binnington to take the 1-0 lead.
That was all the offense the U.S. could muster in regulation. Meanwhile, the pressure from Canada, especially its top line, was relentless. The star-studded trio — hockey's best player, Connor McDavid; the NHL's leading goalscorer, Nathan MacKinnon; and the electric 19-year-old phenom Macklin Celebrini — delivered scare after scare for the white-knuckled American fans in the stands, leaving the U.S. players exhausted and lacking the energy to mount their own charge.
But Hellebuyck repeatedly saved the day, blocking all three of those scorers from the goal. Late in the second period, Canada's top defensemen — Cale Makar, with the assist by Devon Toews — were the only ones to find an opening in Hellebuyck's wall to tie the game 1-1.
Then, in overtime, the teams traded shots before U.S. defenseman Zach Werenski wrestled the puck up the ice and found the open Jack Hughes — his mouth bloodied and front tooth badly chipped after taking a stick to the face in the third period — who slung it in under Binnington's pads for the win.
"That's the goal that I'm going to remember forever, and I didn't even score it," said Boldy, the only other American to score a goal in Sunday's game.
Each and every play in a highlight reel's worth of heroic moments by goaltender Hellebuyck was needed to secure the U.S. gold.
There was the save on a second-period breakaway chance by McDavid, then the penalty kill after 92 seconds of 5-on-3 play as two Americans sat in the penalty box.
In the third, a jaw-dropping behind-the-back stick save on a wide open tap-in shot by Toews — an instant classic moment shared widely on social media — was followed shortly after by another foiled breakaway chance, this one by Celebrini.
"At the end of the day, we didn't capitalize. We didn't bury our looks. I didn't bury the looks I had," Celebrini said afterward. "It's just disappointing."
After the final horn, the American players lined up to hug Hellebuyck. Then, during the medal ceremony, as the gold medals were placed around the necks of each U.S. player one by one, the crowd roared loudest when Hellebuyck received his. "It feels good," he said after the game. "I might not take it off."
"I mean he was an absolute maniac, made some insane saves, clutch," said defenseman Quinn Hughes. "I mean, he fell asleep on the bus on the way to the Sweden [quarterfinal] game, and I was like, 'We're good with this guy.' He's very relaxed. And since that moment, I was like, 'This guy, he's going to be good.'"
In fact, Hellebuyck hadn't felt nervous, he told reporters after the game. "The second I woke up this morning, I felt like I was doing everything right," Hellebuyck said. "Every step I took, it felt right. And that translated."
The U.S. dedicated their win to Johnny Gaudreau, the Columbus Blue Jackets star who was killed in 2024 when a drunk driver struck him and his brother Matthew as they rode bicycles the evening before their sister's wedding in New Jersey.
Players had hung his No. 13 jersey in their locker room in Milan throughout their run. Then, after Sunday's win, several skated holding his jersey aloft along with an American flag.
"It's just what he means to our whole entire team, what he means to USA Hockey," said Brady Tkachuk after the game. "We just wanted to show the Gaudreau family our support and that he was so near and dear to a lot of us, and that we miss him greatly."
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