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The free bird is flying high at the Milan Cortina Games.
The United States men's Olympic hockey team dominated Slovakia from start to finish on Friday, winning 6-2 to set up a gold medal game against their archrival Canada.
Dylan Larkin got the scoring started early in the game, and Tage Thompson found the back of the net in the closing moments of the first to put the Americans up 2-0.
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United States’ Jack Hughes (86) celebrates after scoring his second goal of the game against Slovakia during the second period of a men’s ice hockey semifinal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, on Feb. 20, 2026. (Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo)
It was the second period, though, that was dominant. Jack Hughes and Jack Eichel scored within 19 seconds of each other, and Hughes scored again later on to make it a 5-0 game. In the third, Brady Tkachuk added another for good measure.
This will be the first time the Americans will play for gold since 2010, when they lost an overtime heartbreaker to Canada in Vancouver. Canada, which has won three gold medals in Olympics in which NHL players participated (1998-2014), clinched its spot in the gold medal game after fighting back from a 2-0 deficit against Finland earlier Friday.
United States’ Jack Eichel (9) celebrates after scoring a goal against Slovakia during the second period of a men’s ice hockey semifinal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, on Feb. 20, 2026. (Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo)
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Looking ahead, the U.S.-Canada rivalry is one that, to put it bluntly, Canada has owned. This will be the eighth time the United States and Canada will play for Olympic gold, and the only time the Americans won was back in 1960. They also faced off for gold in 1920, 1924, 1932, 1952, 2002 and 2010. In the best-on-best format, the U.S. is 5-15-1, and three of those victories came in the 1996 World Cup of Hockey.
These two teams are already very familiar with each other, as both rosters are largely composed of the same members as last year's 4 Nations Face-Off, where three fights occurred in the first nine seconds in the countries' first best-on-best game in nine years.
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Tensions between both teams and the fans were sky-high in that tournament, as it was fresh off President Donald Trump's "51st state" comments. Canada ultimately won the 4 Nations against the U.S. in an overtime thriller.
But this is the true big stage, and the Americans are looking not only for revenge but also for bragging rights for four years.
United States’ Jack Eichel, center, celebrates with Brock Faber (14) and Jaccob Slavin (74) after Eichel scored a goal against Slovakia during the second period of a men’s ice hockey semifinal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, on Feb. 20, 2026. (Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo)
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The gold medal game will take place Sunday — the 46th anniversary of the "Miracle on Ice" — at 8:10 a.m. ET.
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