Live blog: United States vs. Slovakia Olympics semifinal

The United States and Slovakia are facing off in the second semifinal of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 on Friday.

The winner will play Canada for the gold medal on Sunday.

NHL.com Editor-in-Chief Bill Price is Milan to provide all the sights, sounds and action.

4:11 p.m. ET

The second period has started, the U.S. leads 2-0, Jason Kelce is here and all is right with the world.

And the U.S. is back on the power play in the first minute of the second.

But that was short lived as Auston Matthews takes hooking penalty just 38 seconds into the power play.

It could be the break Slovakia needs since allowing another U.S. right now would pretty much spell doom.

With the teams even at 4 on 4, the DJ plays "Evenflow" by Pearl Jam. This cat is rallying big time.

3:50 p.m. ET

The U.S. goes on the power play in the final minute of the first and doesn't waste any time making it 2-0 on a goal by Tage Thompson.

It was similar to the goal Nathan MacKinnon scored to win the first game for Canada.

And "Free Bird" plays again.

OK, all apologies to the DJ. He just played "Wild Flower" by The Cult, and I'm fired up.

It's on one of my favorite albums of all time, "Electric." That's now two Cult songs today: "Love Removal Machine" on the organ earlier and now "Wild Flower." If he had played "Peace Dog," I might have passed out.

Wait, I might. The organist just played "Brass Bonanza," otherwise known as the Hartford Whalers fight song. I wonder how many Slovaks on hand knew that one.

3:40 p.m. ET

If you are a fan of the Slovaks, you can't be encouraged by what you saw in this first period.

They haven't mounted much of a challege to the U.S. despite having two power plays. They even iced the puck on the second power play.

Some fans are trying to start a "USA, USA" chant, but I have to be honest, this crowd doesn't seem to have the same juice as the Canada-Finland crowd. Not yet, anyway.

And as I call for more music from the organist, he plays "Golden" from "KPop Demon Hunters" (great flick).

Before that, the DJ played some remixed verson of "Tequila." Why mess with greatness?

Again, like the "Saturday Night Live" skit "More Cowbell," I need "more organist."

3:33 p.m. ET

This is a mostly pro-USA crowd here.

They are a bit on edge here as the U.S. just took another penalty and the Slovaks are on the power play.

That's two penalties against the the Americans. They are playing with fire.

We had our first ABBA song of the day: "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)."

The organist, Dieter Ruehle, has not played too much this game after a stellar job before the first game.

I need more.

3:31 p.m. ET

Team Slovakia goes on the power play at the 8:51 mark after Charlie McAvoy takes an interference call, but the U.S. gets the kill.

The spill in the press box has been cleaned up, we all have power and cooler heads are prevailing.

Of course, some of us didn't eat between games, so some hanger is still lingering.

Not suprisingly, the press area is much more crowded tonight than it has been the past two weeks.

Dan Rosen, Shawn Roarke, Nick Cotsonika and I are squeezed in here like sardines.

3:24 p.m. ET

The organist here just played the intro to "You Keep Me Hangin' On" by The Supremes, later covered by Kim "Kids in America" Wilde.

Hmm.

That might be a rallying call for the Slovaks, who seem to be hanging on after falling behind the U.S. 1-0 just 4:19 into the game.

Unlike some previous games, when the U.S. came out slow, the Americans are clicking tonight, and look to be on top of their game.

I'm sure they can almost taste a gold medal game with Canada, but first things first.

3:16 p.m. ET

The U.S. is on the board here just 4:19 into the game.

Dylan Larkin comes in and beats the Slovakia goalie with a wrist shot.

"Free Bird" is blaring, the fans are going crazy.

Certainly not the start the Slovaks wanted.

3:12 p.m. ET

We are finally in place and ready to go after a spillage at the press table.

This came after someone unplugged Shawn Roarke's computer between games.

There might be some argy-bargy up here before long.

The "USA, USA" chants have already started and this crowd is amped.

2:45 p.m. ET

We're back. After a wild game between Canada and Finland, the U.S. and Slovakia look to reach the gold medal game.

The arena was still filling in with about 25 minutes to puck drop.

The DJ is blasting some Foo Fighters and AC/DC to get the crowd pumped up, but does he really have to?

This should be another epic.

The U.S. will be in the white jerseys tonight while Slovakia is in blue.

We are all taking a breath after the first game and I'll be back in a little bit to chronicle this one.