AP Photos by Luca Bruno
MILAN (AP) — No miracle needed. The United States is on top of the hockey world for the first time in nearly a half-century.
Jack Hughes scored 1:41 into overtime and the U.S. defeated Canada 2-1 in the gold medal final at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Sunday, claiming the nation’s third men’s title at the Games and its first since the “Miracle on Ice” on 1980.
Unlike that ragtag group of college kids that pulled off one of the biggest upsets in sports history 46 years ago by knocking off the heavily favored Soviet Union, the Americans in Milan were a machine that rode goaltender Connor Hellebuyck and a stacked roster full of NHL players through the tournament unbeaten.
Hellebuyck was by far the best player on the ice, stopping 41 of the 42 shots he faced as Canada tilted the ice toward him. He made the save of the tournament by getting his stick on the puck on a shot from Devon Toews in the third period, then minutes later denied Macklin Celebrini on a breakaway — something he also did to Connor McDavid earlier.
It was only fitting they needed to go through Canada, their northern neighbor that beat them at the 4 Nations Face-Off a year ago and has claimed hockey supremacy for quite some time, winning every international competition over the past 16 years that featured the world’s best players.