Jake Guentzel smiled from the Tampa Bay Lightning locker room on Wednesday morning as he reflected on the moment, admitting some of the finer details are a bit fuzzy to remember due to being overcome with excitement.
Four days after helping Team USA win a gold medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, the Bolts forward continued to show his pride in a 2-1 overtime win over Team Canada last Sunday that gave Team USA its first gold medal in men’s hockey in 46 years.
“I wish I could remember,” Guentzel said of his reaction to the overtime game-winning goal from New Jersey Devils forward Jack Hughes that ended the Olympics. “I kind of blacked out with excitement. Just the relief, you're pretty nervous going into overtime there, so it was a lot of relief, but it couldn't happen to a better guy.”
Guentzel, 31, scored a goal in six games for Team USA and finished the tournament plus-two while playing heavy minutes for his country. He eclipsed 17 minutes of ice time in the gold medal game.
“Everything about it was pretty special…I can’t even put into words what it meant to be over there and to be part of the Olympics,” he said.
Team USA finished the tournament as the only team without a loss, winning all three preliminary games before going 3-0 in the playoff round by defeating Sweden 2-1 in overtime, beating Finland 6-2 in the semifinals and then taking down Canada 2-1 in overtime in the gold medal game.
“Right from the start of this tournament we felt like we were destined to win,” Guentzel said, “and we felt like we had the team to win. It was an unbelievable group to be a part of.”
The word “unbelievable” was used a few times on Wednesday by the NHL veteran and now Olympic gold medalist.
“Unbelievable two weeks. It's pretty incredible what we were able to accomplish over in Milan, and it's been a long time coming for USA Hockey to get the gold medal. So we feel pretty blessed. I'm super proud of the group, and I was just obviously very thankful for the opportunity to represent the USA in the Olympics. Super proud and obviously a really exciting time for me and my family.”
The Stanley Cup champion has won big games before but admitted it’s hard to compare the experiences. He said Team USA was especially proud to have won gold medals alongside the Team USA women’s hockey squad, which also beat Team Canada for the feat.
“They're both unbelievably special, and it's hard to point to one or the other,” Guentzel said of the Stanley Cup and a gold medal. “But when you get to do it for your country, and especially against Canada in that kind of environment and that kind of game after the women did it too before—we went there to go for 2-for-2 with the men and the women, and we did that. So it's pretty cool for us to do it for the first time in history.”
Back to work with the Bolts
Guentzel will join seven fellow Lightning Olympians, including silver medalist Brandon Hagel, as well as their other teammates on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. game against Toronto in their first game back following the Olympic break. Days after competing on the global stage, Guentzel and Hagel will reunite as teammates on Wednesday as they get set to face Team USA captain Auston Matthews on the Maple Leafs.
“I love Hags. He’s one of my best friends on this team, and we were talking throughout the whole tournament,” Guentzel said. “Once that game hit though, you're playing for your country and there's bigger things, but it was just fun to go against him and compete against those guys. And obviously once you see each other in the handshake line, it's back to being best friends.”
After the gold medal game, Lightning and Team Canada head coach Jon Cooper sought out Guentzel to congratulate him on the accomplishment.
It was a conversation Guentzel won’t forget.
“It's special. We've had a couple of these the last two years, so I’m fortunate to have him as my coach,” No. 59 said of Cooper. “And it was just more, ‘Hopefully we'll do this together sometime soon.’ It was really nice for him to seek me out and congratulate me like that.”
Guentzel looks forward to being on the same bench with his Lightning teammates again on Wednesday.
He described getting back to the NHL routine as a “whirlwind”, but the Lightning are ready to turn their attention back to their ultimate goal of winning together.
“It's been tough. It's stressful, it's exciting, it's nerve-wracking all at the same time, and the NHL schedule doesn't really help us out, some of these guys that we’ve got to play the first game back,” he said of jumping back into play. “It's tough when you get back Monday night and you're here Wednesday after a long flight and time change. I’m just ready to get going and excited for the push.”
That push begins Wednesday and will include a busy month of March as the Lightning aim to finalize their place in the playoffs and push for the top spot in the conference.
After achieving one of the greatest accomplishments of his career in Italy, Guentzel’s sole focus is now on those around him in the Lightning locker room and what they can do together this season.
“The last couple days have been a lot, and there's no other way to do it than just get ready for the Tampa Bay Lightning,” he said. “We put ourselves in a good spot so far, and we’ve got 27 games in 50 days. It’s going to be a tough push, but we feel like we're in a good spot.”
