Connor Hellebuyck and the United States win gold medal

Mathis Therrien
Connor Hellebuyck and the United States win gold medal
Credit: Capture d'écran Twitter

That's it, it's done. After winning the gold medal in women's hockey in overtime (2-1) against Canada, the United States are also champions of the Milan Olympics in the men's competition with the same result.

They won 2-1 in overtime after being dominated throughout the game.

Here is an analysis of the game won by the United States, giving them their first gold medal in 46 years, since 1980.

First, here are the lineups. As a reminder, Sidney Crosby was not in the lineup for Canada.

First period

After a few good chances on both sides, the United States opened the scoring through Matt Boldy, who made a mockery of Canada's best defensive pairing (Makar – Toews) before sliding the puck between Jordan Binnington's legs.

The United States therefore went into the locker room with the lead.

Second period

Canada completely dominated this period, but lacked opportunism, as evidenced by an unconverted 5-on-3 and a missed breakaway by Connor McDavid.

But the Canadian team's persistence finally paid off at the very end of the period, when Cale Makar fired a superb shot to beat Connor Hellebuyck.

Credit must go to Nick Suzuki on the sequence that gave everything to help Bo Horvat win the faceoff by sending the puck back to Devon Toews at the blue line.

Third period

Canada started the period off strong, but Connor Hellebuyck continued to dominate, stealing the puck from Canadian players several times.

The sequence that stands out is definitely Hellebuyck's steal from Devon Toews, when the Canadian defenseman had an empty net.

A splendid save with the stick.

Canada's dominance continued throughout the rest of regulation time, with the Canadian team creating numerous scoring opportunities but failing to convert any of them.just couldn't score.

The United States was fortunate to remain in the game, and let's just say that Nathan MacKinnon will clearly have nightmares.

Then, at the end of the third period, the United States had a four-minute power play courtesy of Sam Bennett, but they were unable to capitalize, as was Canada, which had a short power play shortly thereafter.

In short, as with any game between Canada and the United States, it had to go into overtime, despite Canada's dominance (42 shots on goal to 26).

Overtime

Overtime didn't last long, as after a few missed opportunities by Canada, Jack Hughes sealed the outcome of the game.


Overtime

– Nick Suzuki switched lines during the game, playing with Brandon Hagel and Bo Horvat after playing with Mitch Marner and Mark Stone. This changed a few times during the game.

– Connor Hellebuyck was sensational in this game. He stopped 40 of Canada's 41 shots. That's a far cry from the Hellebuyck we saw in the playoffs with the Winnipeg Jets. He stole the game single-handedly.
Canada clearly beat itself, with far too many missed opportunities.

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