Entering this gold medal matchup, it looked like Team USA owned the deeper forward group and a more talented defense, but when the chips were down, Team Canada absolutely dominated, doing everything but scoring more than once. Ultimately, this is the story of the 2026 Olympic gold medal game.
If the two sides played this game 100 times with all the chances Canada created, they would more often than not not only win in regulation but also by multiple goals. However, a combination of straight-up blown chances and Connor Hellebuyck standing on his head was ultimately the difference in a game that ended in ridiculous fashion: 3v3 hockey.
The game got off to a good start… For the USA. They dominated the first two shifts, first by the Jack Eichel line, before the Auston Matthews line hopped the boards and hemmed in Canada, creating a number of looks in the process. It’s not how they wanted to start the game, but Canada weathered it and settled into their game. They even created a few odd-man chances afterward; Seth Jarvis, on a down-low 2v1, couldn’t thread the pass through, while Celebrini’s shot was disrupted by the backcheck on a 3v2.
Tom Wilson then introduced himself to the rivalry by absolutely steamrolling Dylan Larkin behind the American net. Credit to Larkin for getting up — I’m not sure how he did — but he got absolutely crushed by what was easily the biggest hit of the tournament. Canada was fired up afterward and finished several hits in the next few shifts, but it was the USA, seemingly out of nowhere, who opened the scoring.
Auston Matthews won a battle against Nathan MacKinnon on the wall in the US end to get the puck out and on the tape of Matthew Boldy in stride. It was a nice battle by Matthews, but it kick-started what was effectively a 1v2 rush. Boldy really had no business splitting the Canada defense, let alone Canada’s top pairing of Toews-Makar, but split them he did. Boldy flipped the puck in the air, whacked it in mid-air to get it through the defense, and just powered through them with speed to give himself a breakaway, where he made a nice play to his backhand while shooting it the other way.
It’s a great goal for the US, and there is no way it should ever happen from the Canadian perspective. Just take the body!
Canada generally controlled play from that point forward, but they passed up shots and didn’t create a ton of Grade As. On one of the few American scoring chances the other way, Brock Nelson cut in on Shea Theodore, whose stick got up to the midsection but didn’t actually affect the player. The refs called an incredibly soft penalty in any game, let alone a gold medal game.
The US created one golden opportunity on it, as Eichel threw a pass to Matthews all alone, but the pass was on Matthews’ backhand. Matthews pulled it forehand and should have just shot it, but he tried to hit Tkachuk for a backdoor tap-in that Canada broke up.
After the first period, this was Canada’s show. They outshot the USA 33-18 from that stage forward and dominated, but they simply couldn’t bury. Connor McDavid went on a clear-cut breakaway. Canada went to a near full 5v3 and didn’t generate much. There was a Celebrini one-timer of some note, but it was pretty uninspiring overall; the type of opportunity you generally don’t get away with not capitalizing on.
Eventually, finally, Canada broke through off a faceoff. The puck went to the wall, where Suzuki and Jake Sanderson engaged in a battle. Sanderson knocked it up the wall to the point where Toews just went d-to-d to Makar. With acres of space to walk in, thanks to a pick by Hagel off the faceoff, it wasn’t even close to Canada’s best chance, but Makar walked in and ripped a perfect shot — far side just above the pad — to tie it.
When a team dominates a period as Canada did in the second and only has one goal to show for it, the concern is that the intermission might suck the life out of the group. But Canada was arguably even more dominant in the third period. They took five fewer shots on net, technically, but they kept piling up the (unconverted) grade As.
The first shift of the period was dominated by the McDavid line with Tom Wilson on the right wing. Devon Toews was then robbed on what looked like an empty-net chance after a nice play by Mitch Marner. Celebrini then missed a breakaway. MacKinnon then completely missed a wide-open net. Marchand, along with basically every other Canadian player on the ice, also couldn’t bury a scramble in front of the net.
Adding to the mounting Canadian frustration, the US clearly had too many men on the ice, played the puck, and the refs inexplicably looked the other way. Shortly afterward, the ref was quick to throw his hand up for a Sam Bennett double-minor high stick. Bennett’s was a clear penalty, too, but the number of missed calls against a USA team that was getting dominated in the run of play was really jarring.
Fortunately for Canada, Jack Hughes took a penalty during the USA power play, ultimately giving Canada a power-play opportunity for over a minute. Celebrini couldn’t bury multiple one-timer looks in the slot.
Eventually, when one team keeps missing golden chances, the other one will make them pay. It took until 3v3 overtime — which shouldn’t be how a gold medal game is decided, clearly — on a clean look for Jack Hughes. The whole sequence was truthfully ridiculous. From McDavid attempting to force it in hero mode, to Nathan MacKinnon twice not knocking the puck back out of the zone and losing battles, it culminated in a clean Jack Hughes look rolling downhill, and he went off the post and in.
Post-Game Notes
– First and foremost, congrats to Auston Matthews. Between the Four Nations finals and the Olympic final, Matthews tallied three points while no other USA forward in those games recorded more than one. Matthews started this game off really well, winning a key battle to spring Boldy for an assist, setting up Guentzel for a grade A in the slot, and getting a really good chance on the PP, though he should have just shot it. He made a number of really good defensive plays and was one of the few American forwards to come up with pucks and get them out of their own zone. As much as it sucked to watch Canada lose, I was personally happy for Matthews, who was obviously thrilled to win. I have no idea if it means anything to the Leafs, and I’m not even going to guess whether it does, but I was happy for Matthews.
– It didn’t get much attention after the Czechia game, but McDavid and MacKinnon were awful in overtime. They gave up a grade A chance down the left but were lucky it was a Czech defenseman, and Binnington stood tall before Marner scored. In this game, they were no better. McDavid’s entire sequence was brutal and selfish hockey. MacKinnon simply needed to win a battle. They gave up essentially the same chance they did against Czechia, except this time it was Jack Hughes, who — as expected — made no mistake.
– I cannot imagine the three straight years of losing that McDavid has now experienced: two Cup finals, now this heartbreaker. He does have the Four Nations winner, but man, that’s tough to stomach. All three were losses vs. Matthew Tkachuk, too.
– I’m not sure what the temperature or fallout from this game will be, but my early reflection is that the USA won the game, but they didn’t beat Canada. Canada was clearly the better team. Truthfully, it wasn’t even close. MacKinnon straight-up missing the wide-open net will give him nightmares for years. It sucks that this is the last time we’ll see Sidney Crosby in the Olympics. What an awful way to go.
– If there was any real debate before, this tournament clearly cemented Cale Makar as the best defenseman in the world. I don’t think it’s even close, to be honest. He is so powerful and dominant with the puck. His combination of size, speed, and skill sets him apart from a player like Quinn Hughes, who is also dynamic but doesn’t have the same size/strength. His goal was an absolute rip, and it’s hard to accept that it’s the only goal Canada scored in this game.
– Celebrini is clearly the next one, too. A really special player.
– Nobody will follow up with him in all likelihood, but since Mark Stone’s “it’s a Toronto thing” comment about Marner, he went pointless and in the semis, he wasn’t good at all (he wasn’t good in regulation against Czechia, for the record). In the finals, he was much better, but ultimately, he produced nothing. Stone, by the way, was mostly a non-factor the entire time. Canada has eight players on its roster from Ontario out of 25, more than any other province in our country. For one of the players to take a shot at Toronto while wearing the Team Canada jersey and representing our country did not sit well with me. At least for me personally, it made a piece of this team unlikable. To watch him, and the player he was referencing, follow up those comments by doing absolutely nothing was just the cherry on top.
– Leafs hockey is back on Wednesday!
