Seven Panthers players are still fighting for Olympic glory as we've finally reached the gold and bronze medal games.
We’re down to the gold and bronze medal games at the 2026 Winter Olympics, and there are still an abundance of Florida Panthers players vying for some extremely special hardware.
The big matchup, and the one that many of us were hoping for, will take place on Sunday morning when the Canada battles the United States for a gold medal at 8:10 a.m. ET.
A player who had a big part in helping Canada reach the gold medal match was Sam Reinhart. He scored the first goal of the game for the Canadians after they’d fallen behind Finland 2-0 in Friday’s first semifinal, sparking an exhilarating comeback capped off by Nathan MacKinnon’s game-winner with 35.2 seconds left.
Even with the goal, Reinhart once again saw the fewest time on ice of anyone on Team Canada, while Sam Bennett and Brad Marchand each saw a slight uptick in usage.
It’s clear Jon Cooper has a certain rotation he’s comfortable with among forward group, so it could come down to specific matchups and situations in regard to how Florida’s Canadians are utilized on Sunday.
Matthew Tkachuk picked up his sixth assist of the Olympics in a dominant 6-2 semifinal win by the United States over Slovakia, adding 10 penalty minutes to his total after mixing it up with Erik Cernak, who Tkachuk is quite familiar with due to Cernak playing for the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning.
In the bronze medal game, a trio of Finnish Panthers players will battle with the Slovaks on Saturday.
Anton Lundell, Eetu Luostarinen and Niko Mikkola have all seen plenty of ice time with Finland during the tournament, and they came oh so close to reaching the gold medal game after nearly taking Canada to overtime.
Now the hope is that they can still come home with an Olympic medal.
The bronze medal game is set for 2:40 p.m. ET on Saturday.
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Photo caption: Feb 18, 2026; Milan, Italy; Sam Reinhart of Canada celebrates their second goal scored by Nathan MacKinnon in a men's ice hockey quarterfinal during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. (Geoff Burke-Imagn Images)