2026 Olympics: Predictions for the USA-Canada gold medal men's hockey game - ESPN

It has all come down to one game for ultimate glory in the 2026 Olympic men's hockey tournament.

The top-seeded team from Canada will take on the No. 2 seed United States of America (8:10 a.m. ET) — and the winner gets Olympic bragging rights for the next four years.

Each team is full of NHL superstars, and both nations have won all of their games so far — Canada won a 3-2 thriller against Finland in its semifinal, while the U.S. rolled over Slovakia, 6-2.

With such tight margins, we've assembled ESPN hockey reporters and analysts Ryan S. Clark, Emily Kaplan, Arda Öcal, Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski to break it all down and give their final score predictions.

Ryan S. Clark, ESPN reporter: Jordan Binnington has faced so many questions over the past year. Then again, so has the state of Canadian goaltending. Binnington's performances have been consistent, and he has played well enough to help keep Canada in the games in which the offense has had slow starts. Now it is a matter of seeing if he can parlay what he's done so far — along with what he did in the 4 Nations Face-Off against the U.S. — in the gold medal game.

Emily Kaplan, ESPN reporter: Connor McDavid. He wore the «C» when Sidney Crosby missed the semifinal against Finland. «Just keeping the seat warm for Sid,» McDavid said. The Oilers superstar has always been deferential to Crosby as the leader of this group for all that he has accomplished. But McDavid, 29, in his athletic prime, is now the best player in the world. He has the ability to play at a speed and level that no other player on the ice can match.

After losing in the Stanley Cup Final back-to-back years, McDavid is as determined as ever. Ahead of the Olympics, he wrote a manifesto in the Players