The USA men’s hockey team continues its pursuit of a gold medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy on Sunday, Feb. 15.
USA is going for an undefeated record in its third and final group play game vs. Germany at 3:10 p.m.
On Saturday, USA overcame a 2-1 deficit to Denmark in the first period, and pulled away in the third to win 6-3. Massachusetts’ own Matthew Boldy and Jack Eichel both scored in the win. USA took down Latvia In the group-stage opener on Thursday, 5-1. With a win on Sunday, the U.S clinches group C and receives a bye to the quarterfinals, which begins on Wednesday, Feb. 18.
Our live coverage of the game is set to begin in just over two hours. Stay right here for updates leading up to the opening face off.
USA wins Group C and receives a bye to the quarterfinals on Wednesday. USA will face the winner of Tuesday’s game between Sweden and Latvia. Austin Matthews finished with two goals and an assist. Zack Werenski, Brock Faber, and Tage Thomspon (assist) scored the other three goals. Eight different players scored a point for USA. Connor Hellebuyck made 23 saves on 24 shots.
Tkachuk gets called for an unsportsmanlike penalty with 4:26 left in the game. Germany goes to the power play, down 5-1.
USA is cruising to a win over Germany, up by four goals with 5 minutes remaining in the final preliminary round game. Barring a historic comeback, USA will take the top spot in Group C and get a bye to the quarterfinals.
Tim Stutzle finally gets Germany on the board with 8:38 remaining. Connor Hellebuyck concedes his first goal of the game after stopping Germany’s first 19 shots.
Matthews nets his second goal of the game after a rebound from Jake Sanderson’s shot with 13:14 remaining. USA is now five goals back from Canada in goal differential.
USA has started to open the flood gates. Tage Thompson fires a rocket into the net from the top of the offensive zone just 1:55 into the third period.
USA begins period three with a 3-0 lead over Germany.
On this day 12 years ago at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, USA’s TJ Oshie made four of six shots, including the winning goal in the eighth-round of a shootout victory over Russia, 3-2 in the preliminary round. The win gave USA a bye into the quarterfinal. Following Oshie’s heroic moment, USA made it to the bronze medal game after falling to Canada in the semifinals, 1-0.
Austin Matthews (PP goal, assist) leads the game in points with 2. Matthew Boldy leads USA with 7 shots. Moritz Seider leads Germany in shots with 5.
With a 3-0 lead after two, USA is one period away from clinching the top spot in Group C and a trip to the quarterfinals. Austin Matthews and Brock Faber scored in the period. The Tkachuk brothers, Matthew and Brady, each assisted on Faber’s goal. Quinn Hughes and Tage Thompson were credited with assists on Matthews’ goal. USA has outshot Germany 28-15.
Brock Faber scores USA’s second goal of the period with 2:25 remaining in period 2. Goalie Maximilian Franzreb went to grab the puck with his glove, but missed and it found the back of the net to put USA up 3-0.
USA ices the puck with 5:48 remaining in period 2, forcing a faceoff in its defensive zone.
USA is back at full strength after killing a second power play. It remains 2-0 with 11 minutes remaining in period 2.
Germany goes back on the power play after a slash called on Zach Werenski with 13:58 remaining in the second period. It’s already the third power play of the period.
Just seconds after killing a power play, USA goes on their second of the game after an interference call. Austin Matthews capitalizes of a rebound with 16:35 remaining in period 2.
USA remains up 1-0 after killing Germany’s power play. Dylan Larkin had a point-blank chance to score short handed for USA during the power play.
Jack Eichel is called for a hooking penalty just 50 seconds into period two.
After scoring with just 8.7 seconds left in period one, USA looks to take the momentum into the middle period.
The crowd at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena appears to be heavily supporting Germany. However, “USA” chants were heard periodically throughout the period.
USA finally broke through with just seconds remaining in the first period after dominating puck possession and offensive zone time. USA outshot Germany 15-8 in the first period. Connor Hellebuyck stopped all 8 shots he faced.
USA failed to capitalize on its lone power play opportunity. Matthew Boldy led team USA in shots with five in the period, followed by Matthew Tkachuk with three.
Zach Werenski gets USA on the board with just 8.7 seconds remaining in the first period. Austin Matthews was credited with the assist after feeding the puck to Werenski. Germany won the face off but could not get the puck out of its defensive zone. USA takes a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
Matthew Tkachuk nearly put one past Philipp Grubauer to get USA on the board but we remain scoreless with under 6:30 remaining in period 1. USA has outshot Germany 12-3.
Germany has killed the USA power play. Still no score in this one at the halfway point in the first period. USA has outshot Germany 8-3.
USA will go on the power play with 12:54 to go in the first period after a hook on Lukas Kalble.
The final group stage game of the 2026 Winter Olympics is underway. Leon Draisaitl takes the opening faceoff for Germany.
USA needs just one point against Germany on Sunday to win Group C and receive a bye to the quarterfinals. USA can get the point by way of a win in regulation or via a win or loss in overtime.
With a loss in regulation, USA’s chance of winning Group C would come down to goal differential. USA also still has an outside shot at the top overall seed, but Canada holds a significant goal differential tie braker. After a 10-2 win over France on Sunday, Canada has a +10 goal advantage over USA.
With Latvia falling to Denmark 4-2, Germany would take Group C with a win over USA and if they are able to pass USA in goal differential. Germany trails USA by six goals.
Sunday’s contest will be the 11th all-time meeting between USA and Germany in the Olympics. USA has won nine of the 10 previous games.
The teams last met at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. USA beat Germany 3-2 in the preliminary round. Germany’s lone win against USA came at the 1994 Olympic games in Lillehammer, Norway, winning 4-3.
Winnipeg Jets‘ goaltender Connor Hellebuyck will get his second start in net for USA. Jake Oettinger of the Dallas Stars will back up Hellebuyck. Boston Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman gets the day off after his first Olympic start in Saturday’s 6-3 win over Denmark.
Tuesday, Feb. 17
Playoff qualifiers
Wednesday, Feb. 18
Quarterfinals
Friday, Feb. 20
Semifinals
Saturday, Feb. 21
Bronze-medal game
Sunday, Feb. 22
Gold medal game
Wins-Losses-OT losses, Goal differential
Group A
Group B
Group C
NHL superstar Leon Draisaitl headlines Germany’s roster at the Olympics. The Edmonton Oilers‘ center is 5th in the NHL in points (80), 6th in assists (61), and tied for 10th in goals (29). In his career, the 30-year-old from Cologne, Germany has 428 goals and 608 assists for 1,036 points in 845 games.
Other NHL players on the roster include forwards JJ Peterka (Utah Mammoth) Lukas Reichel (Vancouver Canucks), Josh Samanski (Edmonton Oilers), Nico Sturm (Minnesota Wild), and Tim Stutzle (Ottowa Senators); defenseman Moritz Seider (Detrioit Red Wings), and goalie Philipp Grubauer (Seattle Kraken).
According to IIHF Rules, any “willing combatants” that engage in a fight receive a major penalty and a game misconduct, meaning they are ejected from the game. But why is fighting not allowed? According to the IIHF website, the goal is to keep the focus of Olympic hockey on “speed, skill, and flow.”
The USA Olympic women’s ice hockey team will face Sweden on Monday, Feb. 16 at 10:40 a.m. The winner will advance to the gold medal game against the victor of Canada and Switzerland.
The Winter Olympics are being broadcast on NBC Sports.
Every live event from the Olympics is being streamed live on Peacock.
USA vs. Germany will be televised on USA Network.
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