USA vs Canada Hockey: Men's Hockey Gold Medal Game 2026 Is LIVE — Everything You Need to Know About the USA Canada Hockey Game

MILAN, Italy — February 22, 2026 — The moment the entire hockey world has been waiting for has finally arrived. USA vs Canada hockey — the most electric rivalry in the sport — is live right now at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena in Milan, Italy, as USA hockey mens and Canada hockey clash in the men's hockey gold medal game at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. This is not just a game. This is a once-in-a-generation showdown, the closing act of these Winter Games, and for USA mens hockey, the chance to end a 46-year gold medal drought that dates back to the legendary Miracle on Ice.

Mens Hockey Gold Medal Game Time, Channel and How to Watch

The mens hockey gold medal game tipped off at 8:10 a.m. ET / 5:10 a.m. PT / 2:10 p.m. CET on Sunday, February 22, 2026. The gold medal hockey game is broadcast live on NBC and streaming on Peacock — and every television in North America is on. NBC's Sunday Olympic coverage began at 7 a.m. ET, with Kenny Albert on play-by-play, Eddie Olczyk as analyst, Brian Boucher as "Inside the Glass" reporter, and Kathryn Tappen reporting from rinkside. For those searching usa vs canada hockey start time — the puck is already dropping. This is the gold medal hockey game 2026 you do not want to miss.

The Road Here: How USA Hockey Reached the Gold Medal Hockey Game

USA canada hockey fans could not have scripted a better path to this gold medal hockey game. USA hockey mens arrived in Milan as a loaded, hungry, and deeply motivated roster — and they have delivered every step of the way.

The U.S. men have not won an Olympic gold medal since the "Miracle on Ice" in 1980. That drought is now 46 years long and counting — and it has served as a motivational fuel source for every player wearing the red, white and blue in this mens hockey olympics tournament.

In the semifinal, Dylan Larkin opened the scoring with a goal off a feed from Zach Werenski just 4:19 into the game. Tage Thompson scored on a one-timer with 40 seconds left in the period to increase the lead to 2-0. From there, USA hockey never looked back. In the second period, Team USA scored two goals within 19 seconds as Jack Hughes and Jack Eichel both found the back of the net to extend the lead to 4-0. Hughes added another goal late in the period to send the U.S. into the third with a 5-0 advantage. A filthy Brady Tkachuk breakaway goal extended the lead to 6-1 before Slovakia tacked on two late consolation scores, with the final result 6-2 for the Americans.

Three days after the American women's team beat Canada in a classic gold medal showdown, the North American men's rivals now meet in the Olympic final for the first time in 16 years. The usa canada hockey game is complete. The sweep attempt is on.

USA mens hockey entered today's us vs canada hockey showdown undefeated across six games, with a perfect record of wins over Latvia, Denmark, Germany, Sweden in overtime, and Slovakia. Their goals-against total is the lowest of any team in the mens hockey olympics bracket. Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck has been nothing short of extraordinary — making 22 saves against Slovakia alone and boasting a tournament save percentage of 94.74%.

Team USA is led by captain and five-time NHL All-Star Auston Matthews, Norris Trophy winner Quinn Hughes, four-time NHL All-Star Brady Tkachuk, and two-time NHL All-Star Matthew Tkachuk. Jack Hughes, who scored twice in the usa vs slovakia hockey semi-final, enters as the tournament's most explosive forward not named McDavid. Coach Mike Sullivan has been meticulous, disciplined, and tactically precise — building a team-first system that has suffocated every opponent.

Canada Hockey: The Comeback Kings Fighting for Dynasty

Canada vs usa hockey carries extra weight on the Canadian side because this is a program built on gold. Canada has won eight Olympic men's hockey gold medals and a total of 16 Olympic medals — the most of any country in Olympic hockey history. They are the measuring stick. They are the standard. And they are not ready to let go.

But the canada hockey path to this gold medal hockey game 2026 has been far more dramatic than their rivals'. Canada mens hockey trailed 2-0 against Finland in the semifinal before an extraordinary comeback — Shea Theodore tied the score before Nathan MacKinnon fired a winner with just seconds remaining, assisted by McDavid and Celebrini, to send Canada to their first men's hockey final in 12 years.

Connor McDavid, speaking after the semifinal comeback, said: "As soon as we got down 2-0, I thought we were the better team the rest of the way. Finland defends very, very well. They're a very hard team to score against and we put ourselves in a tough spot, but we just slowly, slowly but surely clawed our way back into the game and found a way to win it."

McDavid has been the tournament's most complete player — a points-per-game machine who has driven canada hockey offense with vision, speed, and leadership. The question of Sidney Crosby's fitness looms large over this us canada mens hockey clash. Canada's coaching staff has not given up hope that Crosby will play, with coach Jon Cooper keeping his seat warm — in McDavid's own words. If Crosby steps on the ice for this canada vs usa hockey final, the arena will erupt.

Canada boasts a better finesse, on-puck scoring lineup, while Team USA has shown a deeper and tougher forecheck, with more chemistry in the passing game. That stylistic contrast makes this usa canada hockey matchup one of the most tactically fascinating finals in Olympic men's hockey history.

The Rivalry: USA Canada Hockey Through the Ages

The usa vs canada rivalry in olympic hockey is the oldest, deepest, and most passionately contested in all of international sport. Canada and USA have combined for 27 Olympic men's hockey medals — Canada with 16, USA with 11 — first and third all time, respectively. The two nations have met twice this century in the gold medal game — in 2002 and 2010 — with Canada winning both.

The USA men have not been on the podium since the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, where they earned the silver medal in an overtime final which Canada won 3-2, thanks to Sidney Crosby's golden goal 7 minutes and 40 seconds into OT. It remains the most-watched hockey game in U.S. history.

The us vs canada hockey rivalry this year carries a new wrinkle — revenge. The hockey tension between the two bordering nations runs all the way through last year's glove throwdown in the 4 Nations Tournament — three fights in nine seconds. Canada won that tournament final. USA hockey has not forgotten. This men's hockey gold medal game is about far more than a medal. It is about pride, identity, and settling scores.

Today, February 22, 2026, is also the 46th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice — the night in 1980 when a team of American college kids stunned the Soviet Union in Lake Placid. That moment transformed hockey in the United States forever. The players stepping on the ice for usa hockey mens today grew up on that legacy. They know what this date means.

What a USA Hockey Win Would Mean

A usa canada hockey victory today would accomplish something that has never been done in Olympic history: it would mark the first time that both the U.S. men's and women's hockey teams won gold at the same Olympics — with the American women already having claimed their gold in a thrilling 2-1 overtime victory over Canada on February 19. The women did their part. Now it's the men's turn to complete history.

For us men's hockey, it would end the longest gold medal drought in the program's modern era. For coach Mike Sullivan, it would cap one of the greatest achievements in American hockey coaching history. For players like Auston Matthews — who has faced questions about his international play — it would be a defining, career-cementing moment.

The Gold Medal Hockey Game 2026 — Final Thoughts

USA vs Canada hockey in the mens hockey gold medal game at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics is the greatest game on earth happening right now. Two unbeaten programs. Two proud nations. Forty-six years of American gold medal hunger. Canadian dynasty on the line. Connor McDavid against Connor Hellebuyck. Jack Hughes versus Nathan MacKinnon. The Tkachuk brothers against whoever Canada throws at them.

The hockey gold medal game is live. The us canada gold medal game is everything fans of mens hockey olympics have dreamed of. Whether you're watching on NBC, streaming on Peacock, or checking every usa hockey score update from your phone — this is the gold medal ice hockey olympics moment that defines the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games.

USA hockey is 60 minutes — or possibly more — away from the miracle they've been chasing since 1980.