United States cruises past Slovakia, earns gold medal showdown vs. Canada

MILAN -- Team USA routed Team Slovakia 6-2 in the semifinals of the men's hockey tournament at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 at Santagiulia Arena on Friday, booking passage to the gold medal game and a date with destiny.

The Americans, the No. 2 seed, face their most bitter rival, top-seeded Canada, for the gold here Sunday (8:10 a.m. ET; Peacock, NBC, ICI Tele, CBC Gem, CBC, SN [JIP], TSN [JIP], RDS2).

It’ll be the next chapter in a fierce rivalry between the two North American hockey powers.

Most recently, Canada defeated the United States 3-2 in overtime of the 4 Nations Face-Off final last February. The Canadians also defeated the Americans in overtime of the 2010 Olympic gold medal game.

“[Canada] is battle-tested and ready to go,” Team USA defenseman Quinn Hughes said. “If you are going to win, you want to go through the best and we have that opportunity right now. For us it is a great opportunity to beat them.”

GAMECENTER SUMMARY: Slovakia-USA

Canada defeated Finland 3-2 in the earlier semifinal.

Canada and the U.S. each is unbeaten through five games in this tournament.

The United States has not won gold since 1980. Canada has won each of the past two Olympics involving NHL players, at Vancouver in 2010 and Sochi in 2014.

“I think we have everything,” said Team USA goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who made 22 saves. “We have chemistry. We have awesome D-men. We have awesome scorers, playmakers, penalty kill, power play. Like, we have it all.”

The Americans showed that Friday, sending the third-seeded Slovakian side to the bronze medal game against Finland, the No. 4 seed, here Saturday (2:40 p.m. ET; Peacock, USA, ICI Tele, CBC Gem, CBC [JIP]).

“We didn’t play the hockey we played all tournament,” Slovakia alternate captain Martin Fehervary said. “They have a pretty good team.

“We just have to be better tomorrow.”

Juraj Slafkovsky and Pavol Regenda scored for Slovakia, which fell short in its attempt to advance to the gold medal game for the first time in its history. Samuel Hlavaj started and made 19 saves on 23 shots before being pulled. Stanislav Skorvanek relieved him and made 15 saves.

The United States was relentless in dismantling the Slovaks, building a 5-0 lead after two periods, two nights after a 2-1 overtime win against Team Sweden in the quarterfinals.

Jack Hughes had two goals and defenseman Zach Werenski had three assists for Team USA. Brady Tkachuk, Jack Eichel and Tage Thompson each had a goal and an assist.

Dylan Larkin opened the scoring at 4:19 of the first period when his shot wobbled past the blocker of Hlavaj.

It set the tone for the night, Larkin said.

“Just through the experience of playing these countries, they can get hot if you let them and the longer you let them hang around, the more dangerous they become,” Larkin said. “I thought our whole team focused on the start and we got off to a good one.”

After Thompson made it 2-0 with a power-play goal with 41 seconds remaining in the first, Jack Hughes took over the second period.

He made a shimmy-shake move to elude a check and roofed a shot to make it 3-0 at 12:14.

Eichel scored on a backhand 19 seconds later to make it 4-0, and then Hughes struck again with 1:36 remaining in the period, slamming a sharp-angled shot past Skorvanek for a 5-0 lead.

Jack Hughes entered the tournament with questions around him because of injury and below-par play. The New Jersey Devils forward has been limited to 36 games this season, having sustained a hand injury Nov. 12. After scoring in his return to the lineup on Dec. 21, he has just one goal in 18 games since and started the Olympics on the fourth line.

He has three goals and three assists in five Olympic games.

“I believe in myself more than anyone,” he said. “Wherever I was slotted in this thing, I knew I was going to play well. I’m happy to be contributing and I’m really happy we have a chance at the gold medal.”

Tkachuk finished the U.S. scoring with a breakaway goal at 10:52 of the third that made it 6-1.

Slafkovsky, who had seven goals on his way to being named MVP of the 2022 tournament, ended the shutout with his goal at 4:55 of the third period. He has a team-high eight points (four goals, four assists).

Regenda scored on a 2-on-1 at 13:17 to make it a 6-2 final.

WATCH: Men's Hockey Highlights from the Olympic Winter Games

Though the Slovaks lamented what could have been, they still realized an opportunity to defend the bronze they won four years ago, this time in a tournament with NHL players, was ahead in less than 24 hours.

Slovakia defeated Finland 4-1 in the first game of Group B play.

“This was probably our first bad game of the tournament,” captain Tomas Tatar said. “It came at a bad time.

“Tomorrow is a new day. We have to watch the video to clean it all up and give us a chance to win tomorrow. It’s a bronze medal game. We have a huge game tomorrow and we are all excited. We just have to make sure we are ready to play the right way.”

NOTES: Thompson did not play in the third period for precautionary reasons. … Quinn Hughes, who had an assist and has had a point in every game of this tournament, has seven points (one goal, six assists) and is one point shy of tying Sweden’s Erik Karlsson (2014) and Team USA’s Brian Rafalski (2010) for the most points by a defenseman in an Olympic tournament featuring NHL players. … Larkin became the second American to score in consecutive Olympic playoff games with NHL players since Zach Parise, who scored in the quarterfinals, semifinals and gold medal game in 2010.