US stun Canada for ice hockey gold 46 years after 'miracle on ice'

 The United States claimed a first Olympic men's ice hockey gold in 46 years with a stunning 2-1 overtime triumph over big rivals Canada in the final medal event of the Milan/Cortina Games on Sunday.

Jack Hughes struck 1 minutes 41 seconds into the 3 v 3 players overtime period on the anniversary of their famous victory over the Soviet Union in 1980 which is remembered as "the miracle on ice" and paved the way to their last previous title.

"He is built for these moments. He loves the pressure, loves the spotlight, that is when he shines most. He is a gamer. He wants the puck on his stick at all times. He wants to be the guy who makes the play. And he did," Tage Thompson said of team-mate Hughes.

Matt Boldy gave the US a first period lead and it took dominant Canada until the end of the second to level from Cale Makar. Canada had the better chances in an end to end third period but the US hung on to force overtime.

Record nine time champions Canada had won the last two finals between the two in 2002 and 2010.

Missing 2010 hero Sidney Crosby due to injury, they outshot the US 42-28 but were frustrated by US goalkeeper Connor Hellebuyck who helped the US get a third gold overall, the other coming in 1960.

"It was a tough decision. In your head you always want to be out there and you want to find every way possible, but not at the expense of what needs to be done. Watching the way we played today, the guys played incredible," Crosby said.

The 2022 winners Finland earned bronze on Saturday, 6-1 over Slovakia in the tournament which marked the return of National Hockey League stars for the first time since 2014 when Canada had won for the last time.

Canada had come from behind in the quarter-final against the Czech Republic as well as the semis against Finland, and the pattern continued when the US drew first blood too.

Boldy scored with a great solo against the run of play six minutes into the battle of the giants.

The Americans then frustrated the Canadians with rock-solid defending and Hellebuyck proving unbeatable.

"He was our best player by a mile. People have their opinions of him, but if you don't think he is the best goalie in the world now, I think you're thinking wrong," Boldy said.

They even maintained their 100% short handed tournament record when they survived a Canadian 5-3 power play over 90 seconds over penalties for Jake Guentzel and Charlie McAvoy midway through the second period.

Canada pressed relentlessly and found the equalizer with 1:44 left in the period when Makar finally had some space on the right side after a face-off on the left to beat Hellebuyck.

Canada were however lucky not to fall behind again seconds before the end of the period when the US hit the post.

In the final period, Maklin Selebrini failed to beat Hellebuyck one on one and Nathan MacKinnan missed an all but open goal when he hit the outside post.

The US then got a four-minute power play when Sam Bennett got a 2+2 penalty for high sticking but Canada weathered the storm and got a power play on their own when Hughes had to serve two minutes.

But Hellebuyck denied Selebrini twice more to force overtime, where he and Canadian counterpart Jordan Binnington made another big save each before Hughes sent the US into ecstasy.

"You cannot wrap your head around it, it is so hard to understand. The feeling that we have in there, as a group, those are all my brothers for the rest of my life. I'm speechless," US centre Vincent Trocheck said.

The outcome meant that the US claimed both ice hockey golds as their women also beat Canada 2-1 in overtime on Thursday.

"We gave it our all. We had multiple looks that just didn't go our way. That's the game of hockey sometimes. It's unfortunate," Canada right wing Mitch Marner said.