Team USA to battle Canada for Olympic gold after dominant performance against Slovakia

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The free bird is flying high at the Milan Cortina Games.

The United States men's Olympic hockey team dominated Slovakia from start to finish on Friday, winning 6-2 to set up a gold medal game against their archrival Canada.

Dylan Larkin got the scoring started early in the game, and Tage Thompson found the back of the net in the closing moments of the first to put the Americans up 2-0.

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United States’ Jack Hughes (86) celebrates after scoring his second goal of the game against Slovakia during the second period of a men’s ice hockey semifinal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, on Feb. 20, 2026. (Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo)

It was the second period, though, that was dominant. Jack Hughes and Jack Eichel scored within 19 seconds of each other, and Hughes scored again later on to make it a 5-0 game. In the third, Brady Tkachuk added another for good measure.

This will be the first time the Americans will play for gold since 2010, when they lost an overtime heartbreaker to Canada in Vancouver. Canada, which has won three gold medals in Olympics in which NHL players participated (1998-2014), clinched its spot in the gold medal game after fighting back from a 2-0 deficit against Finland earlier Friday.

United States’ Jack Eichel (9) celebrates after scoring a goal against Slovakia during the second period of a men’s ice hockey semifinal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, on Feb. 20, 2026. (Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo)

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Looking ahead, the U.S.-Canada rivalry is one that, to put it