USA vs. Canada hockey: How Jack Hughes traded two front teeth for a Winter Olympics gold medal

by Jeff Eisenberg
February 22, 2026

MILAN — Jack Hughes skated to the penalty box late in Sunday’s third period, panicked that he had cost him and his teammates the biggest game of their lives.

The American forward had just accidentally hit a Canadian player in the face with his stick while fighting for a loose puck in the corner. That meant Canada’s lethal power play unit would have the chance to score a go-ahead goal in the final minutes of regulation.

“I pictured myself on Barstool being the guy that America hates because Canada scores on the power play,” Hughes said. “I was like, Oh my God, here it comes.”

Thankfully for Hughes, he will be every American media outlet’s lead story on Sunday for very different reasons. The 24-year-old went on to score one of the legendary goals in American hockey history, an overtime rocket from the left faceoff circle to win the first U.S. men’s hockey gold medal since a bunch of unheralded amateurs pulled off the “Miracle on Ice” 46 years ago.

The golden goal from Hughes capped an Olympics that began with him on the United States’ fourth line and ended with him blossoming into one of the team’s frontline stars. Hughes rebounded from a poor 4 Nations Face-Off last year and earned the trust of American coach Mike Sullivan, tying for the team lead with seven points at the Olympics, including a combined three goals in the semifinals and gold-medal match.