Olympic viewing guide: The big hockey game and other things to watch on the final day

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Only a handful of golds remain up for grabs before we say *arrivederci* to Milano-Cortina on Sunday. But that includes the biggest one of them all.

So, for our final viewing guide, let's talk about the big hockey game and then go through everything else to watch before the flame goes out.

It's time: Canada vs. the U.S. for the men's hockey gold

It just had to come down to this.

Since their two electric showdowns at last year's 4 Nations Face-Off — bookended by three fights in the first nine seconds of their preliminary matchup in Montreal and Connor McDavid's OT winner in the championship final in Boston — Canada and the United States have been on a collision course for the Olympic title game in Milan. And now, it's actually, finally, here. The rival men's hockey superpowers face off for the marquee gold medal of the Milano-Cortina Games on Sunday at 8:10 a.m. ET.

For a matchup that feels so preordained, this one came dangerously close to not happening. After both teams cruised through the group stage undefeated and untested, Canada needed two frantic comebacks to get past Czechia and Finland in the playoffs, with Mitch Marner and Nathan MacKinnon playing the heroes in overtime. The U.S. also had trouble in the quarterfinals, giving up a late tying goal to Sweden before Quinn Hughes came to the rescue in OT. But the semis were a glorified sparring session for the Americans, who trounced Slovakia 6-2 (Finland crushed the Slovaks 6-1 today for the bronze medal).

While the U.S. seems to be firing on all cylinders, Canada is more than a little banged up. First and