For the first time in 46 years, Team USA has won the gold medal in men’s hockey — and for the first time ever, the program won double gold with victories for both the men and women in the same year.
It took a 3-on-3 overtime against Team Canada to get it done. The United States held a 1-0 lead for much of the game thanks to an early bid from Matt Boldy, but as time went on, Canada’s game-tying goal became inevitable.
Both before and after Cale Makar scored the eventual equalizer, Canada’s depth surfaced in the form of dominance. USA didn’t have a single offensive-zone face-off in the third period until there were only six-and-a-half minutes left, and they got outshot 41-27 by game’s end.
Jack Hughes took a high stick late in the game, apparently breaking several of his teeth. But he made up for the lost weight with the a gold medal that’s now hanging around his neck — and it comes with the immortalization from scoring the game-winning goal.
Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck kept the United States alive. He stopped breakaways from superstars Connor McDavid and Macklin Celebrini, held Canada off the board during a 5-on-3 and a late power play, and made an absolutely impossible save late on Devon Toews.
“Unbelievable game by Hellebuyck,” Hughes said after the game in an interview aired on USA Network. “He was our best player tonight by a mile. Unbelievable game. Unreal game by our team.”
That type of performance reverses the narrative for Hellebuyck, who has been criticized for playing below his capabilities in big moments. On the flip side, Canada’s Jordan Binnington is hailed for his cool, collected nature in big games, but the eventual game-winning goal was one that he could have saved.
The 2-1 final score is precisely the same as the women’s victory on Thursday, which also ended in overtime. It’s a complete 180 for an American team that lost in the 4 Nations Face-Off final a year and two days prior, also in overtime.
Of course, that made them want this one even more.
The team posed on the ice for pictures after the game sporting their gold medals and holding a Team USA Johnny Gaudreau jersey, as well as Gaudreau’s two young kids, as an acknowledgement that he would have been on the team if he and his brother, Matthew, hadn’t been killed by an impaired driver two summers ago.
Brock Nelson becomes a third-generation Olympic gold medalist with USA’s win. In fact, every gold medal the United States has ever won featured a member of his family: His grandfather and his great uncle were on the 1960 team and his uncle played in 1980.
Utah Mammoth captain Clayton Keller, who captained Team USA to its first World Championship gold medal in 92 years last spring, now adds an Olympic gold medal to his collection. He was left off the 4 Nations roster, which pushed him to prove why he belonged on this team.
