Team Canada and Team USA met in the gold-medal game on Sunday morning, the first opportunity for Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki to enjoy golden success at the Winter Olympic Games.
N.B. Due to Olympic rights issues, you may not be able to view the highlights in your country. If you are located in the United States, please visit the NBC Olympics Twitter account for highlights.
O Say, Can You Score?
The Americans got off to a great start, scoring on their first goal of the game, a very familiar situation for many Habs fans.
Matt Boldy didn’t just open the scoring, he also outplayed both Cale Makar and Devon Toews before beating Jordan Binnington with a great move. Team USA captain Auston Matthews, and Minnesota Wild superstar Quinn Hughes were awarded assists on the play.
Considering the impressive talent level of both teams, scoring the first goal of the game gave the Americans one of the greatest advantages possible, while forcing Canada to play behind the eight-ball for a significant portion of the game.
HOCKEY🏒| FINALE 🇨🇦-🇺🇸 Matt Boldy donne l’avance aux Américains.
— Radio-Canada Sports (@RC_Sports) February 22, 2026
C’est 1-0 pour les États-Unis dans le match pour la médaille d'or.@HockeyCanada #MilanoCortina2026 #rcsports #hockey #jeuxolympiques #equipecanada pic.twitter.com/sxN9F7mm6Y
Solving Hellebuyck
With the Canadians trailing 1-0, they did a great job taking over in the momentum department, which forced the United States to take back-to-back penalties, leading to an extended 5-on-3 for Team Canada. However, despite controlling the play at 5v5, Canada generated very few high-quality chances on the powerplay.
When Canada did finally generate a high-danger scoring chance, Connor Hellebuyck shut them down with the greatest of ease. Without his heroic effort throughout the game, there’s a very healthy chance Team Canada would have found the back of the net on several occasions.
It took an excellent shot by Cale Makar, not to mention a strong effort from Suzuki along the boards to finally tie the game late in the second period.
Suzuki was not given an assist on the play, though you could easily argue he deserved one.
HOCKEY – FINALE 🇨🇦-🇺🇸 Cale Makar 🇨🇦 nivelle la marque en fin de 2e période! C'est 1-1. 🤩@HockeyCanada#MilanoCortina2026 #rcsports #hockey #jeuxolympiques #equipecanada pic.twitter.com/cq4BCh9HqT
— Radio-Canada Sports (@RC_Sports) February 22, 2026
Golden Goal
Canada outshot the USA 40-26 in regulation, but as per tradition, the teams needed extra time to decide which team would emerge victorious.
That’s when New Jersey Devils star Jack Hughes called game, scoring less than two minutes into the extra fame, securing the gold medal for Team USA.
HOCKEY – FINALE 🇨🇦-🇺🇸 Jack Hughes marque en prolongation et donne la victoire 2-1 aux États-Unis, une première médaille d'or olympique depuis 1980 pour les Américains.
— Radio-Canada Sports (@RC_Sports) February 22, 2026
Le Canada doit se contenter de la médaille🥈.@HockeyCanada#MilanoCortina2026 #rcsports #hockey… pic.twitter.com/vbnaAXbd09
