Team USA Flips The Script, Denies Canada And Drew Doughty A Third Olympic Gold Medal

For nearly a century, the Olympic gold medal had gone home to Canada, from 1924 to 2010, with Canada winning the previous four meetings against the USA when they met in the gold medal round. 

But on Sunday, that finally changed. 

Behind an overtime dagger from Jack Hughes and a 41-save outing by Connor Hellebuyck, the USA beat Canada 2-1 in the Gold medal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics, delivering America's first Olympic gold medal since 1980 and denying Drew Doughty a chance at his third. 

At the 1:41 mark in overtime, Hughes creates space on the right side of the ice after forcing a Canada turnover. Hughes snapped a wrist shot past Jordan Binnington to end the game and secure the gold. 

In a rivalry that had been dominated by Canada for over 100 years, the narrative reversed: this time, it was the Americans skating past the Canadians for a gold medal. 

For Doughty, the veteran defenseman entered the Milano Olympics with two gold medals and was searching for a third one that would put him in rare company as one of the greatest to ever do it in the Olympics. 

And Doughty was great the whole time in the tournament, logging heavy minutes for Canada, putting his body on the line, taking big hits, and anchoring the defense. But that dream of another gold medal fell short to a game-winner by Hughes in overtime, as the USA's bench erupted. Doughty's pursuit of another gold medal was cut short by a new American core that looks poised to continue its dominance for years to come.

Doughty, now 36 years old, most likely played his last Olympic game today, and that's okay because he already has two Olympic gold medals that still put him in rare company and will go down as one of the best to ever do it. 

The Americans struck early, behind Matt Boldy giving the USA a 1-0 lead, six minutes into the first period. Canada would go scoreless for the remainder of the period, but answered late in the second. 

After an icing, the Canadians won the faceoff, and the puck made its way to Cale Makar, who snapped home the shot from the far corner, tying the score 1-1. It didn't matter, though, because Canada had no chance of solving Hellebuyck again, who was so dominant on the crease today. 

Canada had many chances in this game despite being short handed, but couldn’t score when it mattered most down the stretch of this game, credit Hellebuyck for putting the defense on his back. 

The American goaltender ended his day stopping 40 of 41 shots, including several clutch moments where Canada came close to taking the lead with Macklin Celebrini, Nathan MacKinnon, and crashing rebounds, getting second chance opportunities, but Hellebuyck never looked fazed. 

In a tournament where goaltending is everything, Hellebyck outdueled Jordan Binnington and withstood Canada's elite offense. And when overtime arrived, the American's capiatlized first on the 3-on-3 chaos. 

Adding to Canada's frustration ahead of today's game, Sidney Crosby didn't play due to a lower-body injury sustained in the quarterfinals. Would it have changed the outcome? Crosby definitely would have brought some offensive firepower to Canada, which was held to one goal, especially in a tie game in overtime. 

Still, the loss can't be about excuses and who didn't play. 

It was about execution, and the USA came up big in the clutch when it mattered most, outplaying Canada, which is still very deep despite missing Crosby.  

For decades, the Olympic gold medal between these two nations was won by Canada. 

Now, the Americans have rewritten that chapter and brought home the gold to start a new era of Olympic hockey in the USA. 

For Doughty, the dream of a third gold medal will remain unfinished, and in team USA history, they will no longer be the second-place team behind Canada.

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