MILAN — The United States is on top of the hockey world for the first time in nearly a half-century. No miracle needed.
Jack Hughes scored less than 2 minutes into overtime and the U.S. beat Canada 2-1 in the gold medal final at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Sunday, earning the nation’s third men’s title at the Games and its first since the “Miracle on Ice” in 1980 — 46 years to the day of the upset over the mighty Soviet Union, too.
Unlike that ragtag group of college kids that pulled off one of the biggest shockers in sports history in Lake Placid, the Americans in Milan were a machine that rode goaltender Connor Hellebuyck and a roster full of NHL players through the tournament unbeaten.
Still, they were underdogs again against the stacked Canadians and came out on top — again.
“This is all about our country right now,” said Hughes, who lost at least one and maybe two of his front teeth taking a high stick during the game. “I love the U.S.A. I love my teammates. It’s unbelievable. The USA Hockey brotherhood is so strong.”
Early in the three-on-three overtime, Zach Werenski took the puck away from Nathan MacKinnon and passed it to Hughes, who was wide open streaking to the net. Hughes fired a shot past Jordan Binnington 1:41 in to send players into a wild celebration as the rival Canadians watched from the bench.
Asked his favorite moment during his Olympic debut, captain Auston Matthews quipped, “I think when Jack scored. … I’ll definitely remember Jack’s goal.”
Hellebuyck was extraordinary, stopping 41 of the 42 shots he faced as Canada tilted the ice toward him over the final two periods. He made the save of the tournament by getting his stick on the puck on a shot from Devon Toews in the third period, then minutes later denied Macklin Celebrini on a breakaway — something he also did to Connor McDavid earlier.
“He was our best player by a mile,” winger Matt Boldy said. “He’s an absolute stud. He wants to be in those moments. He wants to make the saves. And he did just that, so he was definitely our MVP.”
It was a glorious weekend for Team USA, with the women’s hockey team also defeating Canada in overtime to win gold. For the men, it was only fitting the Americans needed to go through Canada, their northern neighbor that beat them at the 4 Nations Face-Off a year ago and has won every international competition over the past 16 years that featured the world’s best players.
Not anymore.
Winning a fast-paced, riveting game that was full of big hits and plenty of post-whistle altercations, the U.S. got a goal from Boldy 6 minutes in and led until Cale Makar tied it late in the second period. Hellebuyck and the penalty kill was a perfect 17 for 17 at the Olympics.
“I can’t even believe this,” Hughes said. “I mean it’s such an unbelievable game, USA-Canada. Such a good game. There’s so many great players. We’re a great team. That’s exactly how we wanted it to go. We’re underdogs to Canada, (but we) beat them. It could have gone either way.”
Hughes paid a painful price when he took the high stick and wound up face down on the ice. The teeth were out, but the celebration wasn’t far away.
“More people are going to be looking at his medal than his teeth,” Boldy said.
The U.S. winning silenced criticism of general manager Bill Guerin and his management group choosing a roster full of experienced veteran players to fill specific roles and leaving four of the top 10 American goal-scorers in the NHL this season at home. The players they brought got the job done.
“There are whisky drinkers and milk drinkers and we got a lot of whisky drinkers on this team,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “One of the things that Billy Guerin and I talked about from the very beginning was trying to build a team in the true sense of the word, so we looked at a deep group of American talent and these decisions were very difficult. They weren’t easy. You look at how this group is constructed, there was a thought process that we had players that could play in all situations.”
Some decisions were no-doubters, like Sullivan giving the net to Hellebuyck, who stopped 131 of the 137 shots he faced throughout the tournament and was at his best against Canada.
“He was our backbone — today even more so than the rest of the tournament,” forward Vincent Trocheck said. “He saved our lives there a couple times in the third. He was unbelievable.”
