When the gold-medal game between the United States men’s national ice hockey team and the Canada men’s national ice hockey team dropped the puck at the 2026 Winter Olympics, it carried more than just championship stakes — it carried

Sidney Crosby's status for the gold-medal game at the Winter Olympics between Team Canada and the U.S. was updated Sunday.

Jack Hughes is the poster boy after he scored one of the most dramatic goals in Olympic hockey history, 1:41 into overtime to give Team USA a 2-1 win against Team Canada in the gold medal game of the men's hockey tournament at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 at Santaguilia Arena on Sunday.

Through a sudden death overtime goal, the U.S. men's hockey team is golden over Canada.

Jack Hughes’ overtime goal, which gave the United States its first Olympic gold medal in men’s hockey since 1980, drew an average audience of 26 million viewers on NBC and Peacock in the U.S., according to Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel ratings and Adobe Analytics digital data.

Team USA’s 2-1 OT Win Averaged a Combined 20.7 Million Viewers and 18.6 Million Live (8:15-11 a.m. ET) on NBC & Peacock, Marking the Most-Watched Pre-9 a.m. ET Sporting Event on Record in U.S.

The hockey world raved about Sunday’s dramatic 2026 Winter Olympics gold medal game, but Canada head coach Jon Cooper had a completely different response after its conclusion. Sunday’s gold medal game offered hockey fans an all-time moment with the