MILAN — The U.S. men’s hockey team and Canada meet again in the 2026 Winter Olympics championship game as they did in the 4 Nations Face-Off.
Canada did its part in the early game, rallying from a 2-0 deficit to defeat Finland 3-2 on a last-minute goal by Nathan MacKinnon. Canada heads to the gold medal game, while Finland will play for bronze against Slovakia.
The USA clinched its spot in the gold medal game by defeating Slovakia 6-2 in the other semifinal. That sets up another big meeting in a heated rivalry that has usually gone Canada’s way.
Canada beat the USA for gold in the 2002 and 2010 Olympics, plus won last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off final.
Here’s all of the action from Friday’s semifinals:
Jack Hughes scored two goals, one on a beautiful move around a defender, to lead the USA rout.
Dylan Larkin opened the scoring for the second game in a row and Tage Thompson scored a power play goal late in the first period. Hughes struck twice in the second period, with a Jack Eichel goal in between, for a 5-0 lead.
Juraj Slafkovsky got Slovakia on the board in the third period before Brady Tkachuk scored on a breakaway. Pavol Regenda cut the U.S. lead to four.
Thompson (lower body) didn’t play in the third period as a precaution.
Canada fell behind 2-0 on a power play goal by Mikko Rantanen and a short-handed goal by Erik Haula. But goals by Sam Reinhart and Shea Theodore tied the game.
Nathan MacKinnon scored with 36 seconds left for the game-winner, right before a power play expired. Finland challenged for offsides, but the goal was upheld.
Connor set up MacKinnon’s goal, one of two assists in the game. He now has 13 points to break the record for an NHL player in the Olympics. Finland’s Teemu Selanne and Saku Koivu had scored 11 points in 2006.
All times Eastern and accurate as of Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, at 7:09 p.m.
Peacock is streaming every game live.
The 12 teams are divided into three groups. They are:
Teams play one game each against the other three teams in their group. Countries get three points for a regulation win, two for an overtime win, one for an overtime/shootout loss and zero for a regulation loss.
After the preliminary round is complete, teams are seeded 1 through 12 under the following criteria:
The top four teams (group winners and best second-place team) get a bye to the quarterfinals. Teams 5-12 play in a qualifying round, with the winners going to the quarterfinals.
Playoff qualification games are on Feb. 17, quarterfinals are Feb. 18 and semifinals are Feb. 20.
The bronze medal game is Feb. 21 and the gold medal game is Sunday, Feb. 22.
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