Team USA men’s hockey is playing for Olympic gold for the first time since 2010. The late members of Lynyrd Skynyrd have enjoyed the free publicity, as their magnum opus, the American’s goal song, has earned ample airtime.
Head coach Mike Sullivan’s hand-picked, Star-Spangled quad had looked vulnerable against Mika Zibanejad and Sweden, but Quinn Hughes kept the dream alive in overtime on Wednesday evening.
With the Team USA women’s team having won gold against Canada on Thursday, they came out en masse to support their male counterparts against Slovakia. Can Auston Matthews and the Hughes and Tkachuk brothers deliver on Sunday morning and emulate the historically great women’s team?
Jack and Quinn Hughes have propelled their Team USA to new heights, especially in the semifinals against Cinderella story Slovakia, a team with just seven NHL players on its roster. The two brothers have combined for 13 points – four goals and nine assists – at Milano Cortina 2026.
Their brotherhood camaraderie was catapulted by two goals in 19 seconds, with Jack Hughes leading the way. Quinn Hughes’ 5-game point streak tied Zach Parise (2010) for the longest run by an American skater at an Olympics with NHL players.
Dylan Larkin and Tage Thompson had been unproductive in the Olympics for Team USA until the quarterfinal game against Sweden. Larkin opened the scoring against the Swedes and Slovaks; in doing so, he became just the second American player to score a goal in consecutive Olympic games with NHL players.
Thompson owns two 40-goal seasons, a pair of 30-goal campaigns, and has gotten the puck into the net 188 times since the 2021-22 season, eight-best in the NHL in that span.
In these Olympics, the Phoenix, Arizona native had not scored since Game 3 of the Preliminary Round against Germany on February 15th. That all changed against Slovakia, when Thompson buried a one-timer off a feed from Jack Eichel for a power play goal to give Team USA a 2-0 lead.
Thompson’s triumph was unfortunately truncated by an injury. He exited the game and was held out of the third period for precautionary reasons, NBC said during the broadcast. The specific injury was not immediately known. He was not on the bench when the teams returned to the ice.
Connor Hellebuyck has been the best goalie of the Olympics. Including play against Slovakia, the three-time Vezina Trophy winner has produced a .947 save percentage through five Milano contests.
While the esteemed net minder has garnered copious amounts of criticism for underwhelming performances in the biggest games, Hellebuyck has been the main reason Team USA has advanced to the gold medal game against Canada.
In what seems like destiny, Sunday morning’s gold medal game against the vaunted Canadians will take place on the 46th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice.
Serendipity isn’t needed when professional players are vying for the top prize in sports, but perhaps Mike Eruzione, Jim Craig, and Mark Johnson can help exorcise Team USA’s demons.
This is the greatest American hockey team ever assembled. Every player was selected for a specific purpose, even with the vilification that came from notable roster exclusions. It’s now or ever for the Americans. Talk is cheap. As they know, medals are won on the ice, not in the headlines or on social media.
Will Auston Matthews and his teammates have the Star-Spangled Banner blaring in the background as they receive the gold medal? Or will they watch Canada win its fourth Olympic gold medal of this century? There’s only one way to find out.
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