Winner to take on Canada in gold medal game Sunday
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The Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 are in full swing. The men’s hockey tournament, the first with NHL players since the 2014 Sochi Olympics, has reached the semifinals and will conclude with the gold medal game Sunday. In the first semifinal, Team Canada defeated Team Finland 3-2.
Here is a look at the Slovakia-United States semifinal:
How they got here
United States (3-1-0-0, first in Group C): Defeated Team Latvia 5-1, defeated Team Denmark 6-3, defeated Team Germany 5-1, defeated Team Sweden 2-1 (OT)
Slovakia (3-0-1-0, first in Group B): Defeated Team Finland 4-1, defeated Team Italy 3-2, lost to Team Sweden 5-3, defeated Team Germany 6-2.
Player to watch
United States: Quinn Hughes scored the game-winner in the 2-1 overtime victory against Team Sweden and has six points (one goal, five assists) in four games. The Minnesota Wild defenseman has had at least one assist in each of the four games, the longest run by an American player at an Olympics with NHL participation. He also tied Nicklas Lidstrom of Sweden (four in 2002) for the longest assist streak by a defenseman in an Olympics with NHL players. He has 57 points (five goals, 52 assists) in 52 NHL games this season.
Slovakia: Juraj Slafkovsky has seven points (three goals, four assists) in four games at the Olympics, powering Slovakia to first place in Group B. Selected by the Montreal Canadiens with the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, the 21-year-old forward has 45 points (21 goals, 24 assists) in 57 games this season.
Will win if
United States: Connor Hellebuyck repeats his performance from Wednesday. The U.S. has too many offensive weapons to stop, but patience will be a key. Slovakia’s relentless approach is built to frustrate and lead opponents into mistakes. The U.S. defense is strong and deep to contain Slafkovsky.
Slovakia: It continues to play team hockey. Slafkovsky is the star, but Slovakia has had a balanced attack with 12 players registering at least one point against Germany on Wednesday, including two goals and an assist from Pavol Regenda. They will also need to maintain their suffocating defense, if not ratchet it up even further.
EDGE Stats to watch
Hughes leads defensemen and is second in the entire NHL in total skating distance (215.22 miles) this season behind forward Connor McDavid (234.49). Hughes also ranks third among defensemen in midrange shots on goal (52) and is sixth at his position in 20-plus mph speed bursts (113).
The skinny
The United States survived a close one against Sweden and should expect a tough battle against a resilient Team Slovakia, which has shown an ability to pressure and frustrate some of the NHL’s top scorers during the tournament. But the U.S. should have too much firepower and Hellebuyck (2-1-0-0; 0.98 GAA, .958 save percentage in three starts) should be too stingy in goal for Slovakia to overcome.
Go deep with full coverage of the Men’s Hockey action at the Olympic Winter Games
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