Exactly 46 years after the "Miracle on Ice" Lake Placid Games, the U.S. men's hockey team brought home another Olympic gold medal.
Team USA defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime on Sunday to secure the third gold medal in American history at the Olympics.
“I hope this will inspire kids to put this jersey on someday, as it’s the best feeling in the world," Dylan Larkin said after the win. "What we just did, nothing will ever match this.”
Matt Boldy got on the board for Team USA just six minutes into the game to give the United States an early lead.
Canadian defenseman Cale Makar scored the equalizer with 1:44 left in second period to tie the game at one apiece going into the second intermission.
Connor Hellebuyck played out of his mind the entire game, putting on a highlight-reel performance that will go down in hockey history. The Winnipeg Jets goalie saved 41 shots in the game, making it nearly impossible for Canada to find the back of the net.
"It's a dream come true," Hellebuyck said after the game. "I love this group, we've had so much fun over here, we've grinded, we've battled, this is some of the best and most fun hockey I've ever played."
In overtime, it was Jack Hughes who was the ultimate hero, he scored with 1 minute and 41 seconds to go in overtime to win the 2026 Olympic gold medal in men's hockey for the United States.
"Unbelievable game, unreal game by our team," Hughes said after the game "Ballsy, gutsy win. That's American Hockey right there. That's a great Canadian team, but we're USA. We're so proud to be Americans."
Through a bloodied mouth and missing teeth, after taking a hit late in the game, the game-winning golden boy praised his teammates.
"Hellebuyck, he was our best player tonight, by mile," Hughes said. "USA Hockey brotherhood means so much. Look at these guys. We're such a team."
The brotherhood was on full display after the historic win, as Team USA celebrated with their late teammate Johnny Gaudreau's jersey on the ice, with his family looking on from the crowd in Milan.
“It's just what he means to our whole entire team, what he means to USA Hockey," Brady Tkachuk said after the game. "We miss him and Matty (Matthew Gaudreau) so dearly. He would have been in this team. He's touched everybody on that ice. We just wanted to show the Gaudreau family our support. He was so near and dear to a lot of us. We miss him greatly, and we did it for him.”
The U.S. team honored Gaudreau, who was killed, along with his brother, Matthew, by an alleged drunk driver on Aug. 29, 2024, by hanging his jersey in the locker room throughout the Olympic tournament.
The Milan Cortina Games is the first time that the U.S. has won gold in men's hockey at an Olympics where NHL players were competing. The Stars and Stripes finished with a perfect 6-0 record in the tournament and outscored their opponents 26-9.
"USA, Canada. That's such a good game," Hughes said. "They have so many great players. We're a great team. That's exactly how we wanted to go. We wanted to go through Canada and beat them. It couldn't win either way tonight, but that's number one for the Americans."