U.S. to face Canada for gold after routing Slovakia

The United States routed Slovakia 6-2 on Friday to advance to the gold-medal game at the Milan Cortina Olympics, where it will face Canada.

The rivals are now set to collide in the Olympic men's hockey final for the first time since 2010. Canada is 2-0 against the U.S. in gold-medal games all time, with triumphs in 2002 and 2010.

Canada beat the United States 3-2 in overtime in the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game in 2025. The event was the first best-on-best tournament featuring NHL players since the 2014 Olympics.

Jack Hughes led the way for Team USA with two goals against Slovakia. Dylan Larkin, Tage Thompson, Jack Eichel, and Brady Tkachuk also found the back of the net.

Thompson didn't play in the third period for precautionary reasons.

Connor Hellebuyck made 22 saves. He has a .947 save percentage across five starts in the tournament.

With under two minutes remaining, Matthew and Brady Tkachuk, along with Erik Cernak, were assessed 10-minute misconducts for unsportsmanlike conduct after a scrum.

Juraj Slafkovsky and Pavol Regenda netted Slovakia's goals. Both came in the third period after the Americans had pulled out to a commanding 5-0 lead.

Earlier Friday, Canada beat Finland 3-2 in the other semifinal by erasing a 2-0 deficit and taking the lead on Nathan MacKinnon's dramatic go-ahead goal with 35 seconds left.

Both teams are undefeated in the tournament.

The gold-medal game will be Sunday at 8:10 a.m. ET.

Slovakia will take on Finland in the bronze-medal game Saturday at 2:40 p.m. ET. Finland is the defending gold medalist, while Slovakia won bronze in 2022.