Jack Hughes’ overtime goal caps U.S. gold at the 2026 Winter Olympics
The U. S. men’s hockey team beat Canada 2-1 in overtime at the Milan Cortina Games on the final day of the 2026 Winter Olympics, ending a gold-medal drought that stretched back to 1980 and sending the closing night into a roar.
2026 Winter Olympics: Team USA ends a 46-year wait
After more than 60 minutes of tense, back-and-forth hockey, the final ended in an instant early in overtime when Team USA sprinted up ice with a man advantage and Zach Werenski dropped a pass to a trailing Jack Hughes, who drilled the puck into the net for a 2-1 win over Canada. The Americans had won gold 46 years to the day after the 1980 "Miracle" team upset the Soviet Union.
Hughes, Hellebuyck and Boldy: key moments
Team USA struck first on its first shot. Matt Boldy split two defenders, flipped the puck into the air, batted it up again and then buried it for the opener. "Somehow [the puck] just stuck with me and got lucky on the goal, " Boldy said. Canada’s Cale Makar tied the game with a second-period laser, and Canada kept testing U. S. goalie Connor Hellebuyck. Hellebuyck finished with 41 saves, and Hughes called him "our best player tonight by a mile. " Hughes scored the overtime winner just minutes after taking a high stick to the face in the third period and celebrated with a bloody mouth missing a few front teeth.
A narrative threaded with prior overtime heroics and a tribute
The final echoed earlier thrills: Quinn Hughes had scored an overtime game-winner to beat Sweden in the quarterfinals. After the gold-medal game, Team USA posed for a team photo with the jersey of Johnny Gaudreau — an American player who was hit by a car and killed while cycling in 2024 — and Gaudreau’s two young children. "The USA hockey brotherhood is so strong, " Jack Hughes said. "I’m so proud to be American today. "
Day of crowning performances beyond hockey
Earlier on the final day, Eileen Gu won gold in the women’s freeski halfpipe final, a performance that made her the most decorated freeskier of all time. Gu, who was born and raised in the United States but competes for China, has now won six Olympic medals — three gold and three silver — and is 22 years old. At these Games she had taken silver in slopestyle and big air before the halfpipe. The halfpipe final had been postponed because of a snowstorm; Gu pulled out on her first run and then delivered scores of 94. 00 in Run 2 and 94. 75 in Run 3 on her path to victory, marking a second consecutive Olympic gold in the event. "In all three events I showcased my best skiing, and as far as performance goes, that’s all I can ask for, " Gu said. "I’m the most decorated freeskier of all time, male or female, " she added.
Alysa Liu won gold in women’s figure skating, the first American gold in that event in more than two decades. Ilia Malinin finished eighth in the men’s singles, described as having crumbled under the pressure. American speedskater Jordan Stolz won two golds and a silver at these Games but missed his chance to have a truly historic meet. In curling, the U. S. women fell to Canada in the bronze-medal game, while Sweden beat Switzerland 6-5 for gold; Sweden also won gold earlier in mixed doubles curling.
Closing ceremony, extinguished flames and what comes next
The Closing Ceremony — built around the theme "Beauty in Action" — closed out the Games that ran Feb. 6 through Feb. 22. The ceremony shifted from the somber extinguishing of the dual Olympic flames in Milan and Cortina to an upbeat pop performance, and the cauldrons were put out as Milano Cortina 2026 came to an emotional and beautiful end, a night that included a broadcast transition into a promotion for the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles featuring a Kate Hudson rendition of "California Dreamin'. " The Games were shown on NBC and streamed on Peacock.
With the final competition concluded and the cauldrons extinguished on Feb. 22, organizers and athletes now turn their attention to the next Olympic hosts: Los Angeles in 2028 and France in 2030.
