2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics
Semifinal 2: United States vs. Slovakia
How to watch
Start time: 3:10 PM EDT / 9:10 PM CET
In Canada: ICI Télé, RDS2 (French)
Streaming: CBC Gem, RDS
The United States capped of a run of three quarter-final games that went to overtime. Quinn Hughes scored the winning goal three-and-a-half minutes into the three-on-three period after Mika Zibanejad had tied things up late for Sweden. It was the closest Team USA came to losing in the four games played to this point, but the superstar defenceman kept their championship hopes alive.
To have a shot to play for gold and try to make it an American sweep of the women’s and men’s tournaments, Team USA will have to get past the biggest surprise of the tournament: Slovakia. The Slovaks were the only ones to coast through their quarter-final appearance, not just playing the only game decided in regulation, but one decided by four goals in a 6-2 win.
Slovakia held Leon Draisaitl to a single point while Tim Stützle’s night ended with a -4 goal differential. Juraj Slafkovský had an assist and five shots, but other players did the majority of the damage, getting a goal from five players and two from Pavol Regenda. The team is proving it has some depth and won’t be intimidated by any opponent, so Team USA will be in for another test.
