The USA team won clearly, 6-2 against Slovakia, and is back in the Olympic finals, after a 16-year break!
Article by Luminița Paul – Published on Saturday, 21 February 2026, 00:53 / Updated on Saturday, 21 February 2026 00:58
The US national team won 6-2 (2-0, 3-0, 1-2) over Slovakia, the bronze medalist from the previous edition, and qualified for the final act of the Olympic tournament in Milan. The Americans have two Olympic titles in their history, in 1960 and 1980, and will face Canada for the gold medal, their opponents having 9 triumphs in their records, most recently in 2014.
The US and Slovakia national teams rekindled a young rivalry that began almost 10 years ago and was tied 5-5 before the match that decided Canada's opponent in the last act in the Olympic semifinal in Milan Cortina.
They reached this stage on slightly different routes, with the Slovaks losing in Group B to Sweden but finishing in first place. Position USA secured in Group C in authoritative fashion, three wins, impressive goal difference, +11.
From now on, however, nothing could be negotiated. Once on the ice, the Americans started quickly, at an authoritative but sterile pace. They attacked, they insisted, they recovered, but the goal did not come then, in the middle of the assault.
It materialized in minute 4:19, when the center Dylan Larkin from the Detroit Red Wings, coming from the sideline, quickly took the puck. An individual action started from Zach Werenski's pass led to a successful shot, with which he surprised Slovakian goalkeeper Samuel Hlavaj, currently with the Iowa Wild in the AHL.
The first half then went into a stage with no real threats, a few typical hockey clicks, quickly quelled by the referees. The Slovaks did not take advantage of the two powerplays, after the eliminations of McAvoy for obstruction and Werenski for delay of game.
USA, two-goal lead after the first half
The Americans, instead, struck once more, in the last minute of the first half, on the powerplay, with Kelemen on the bench for possession. Buffalo Sabres' Thompson scored off Jack Eichel's pass to end the half with a momentary 2-0 lead for Team USA.
Returning for the second half, the two teams faced each other without creating a burning danger at the opposing goal, but after a few minutes the Slovaks threatened more. The pressure dissipated, however, and things would soon take a favorable turn for the team coached by Mike Sullivan.
Jack Hughes (New Jersey Devils) made the score 3-0 (minute 32:14) from Werenski's pass. Still dazed by the “punch” they received, the Slovaks let their guard down. In the next phase, just 19 seconds later, Jack Eichel (Vegas Golden Knights) made an excellent shot in the corner from Brady Tkachuk's pass and the scoreboard read 4-0.
USA-Slovakia semifinal duel in the 2026 Olympic tournament Photo: Guliver/GettyImages
Slovak coach, Vladimir Orszaghchanged the goalkeeper. Stanislav Skorvanek, who is defending in the domestic championship, at HK Dukla Michalovce, came in for Hlavaj. A run of 4 eliminations for Slovakia and two for the American camp ended with one more goal from the two-time Olympic champions (1960, 1980).
The USA increases the lead, 5-0 before the last period
The same Hughes, employed by Werenski, deepened the Slovak wound in the 38:24 minute, with a pass from Werenski. A first American shot went behind the goal, Skorvanek did not have time to reposition himself on the other side and the score reached 5-0.
“We knew the quality of the opponents, we paid the price for too many eliminations, we have to fix our own mistakes”, said the captain of Slovakia before the last half, Thomas Tatar.
A Canada – USA final was getting closer, the Americans started the third half without Tage Thompson, but the 6th goal of the Americans did not come, but that pride of the Slovaks was restored a little by the success of the young Jurak Slafkovsky (21 years old, Montreal Canadiens) from Adam Ruzicka's pass, in the 44:55 minute.
A quick counterattack of his Brady Tkachuk a few minutes later he didn't change the scoreboard, Skorvanek managing to parry. He couldn't do anything in minute 50:52, when the same Tkachuk also put his name on the list of scorers for 6-1, from Vincent Trocheck's pass.
Brady Tkachuk scored USA's 6-1 semifinal win over Slovakia Photo: Guliver/GettyImages
The guards let down a bit, after a minute and a half, Pavol Regenda (San Jose Sharks) shot unstoppable, capitalizing on Milos Kelemen's pass for 2-6.
The final minutes strained the nerves and, after a short fight with fists looking for faces and the referees in the middle, Slovakian Erik Cernak and Brady Tkachuk respectively received 10-minute penalties. The score stood 6-2and the USA goes to the final against Canada.
The last act of the Olympic hockey tournament is scheduled for Sunday, February 22, the last day of the Games, from 15:10, while the bronze medal match will be on Saturday, from 21:40, Slovakia-Finland.
