USA dominate Slovakia as they prepare for gold medal matchup against Canada

USa players core goal against Slovakia 2026 Winter Olympics
USa players core goal against Slovakia 2026 Winter OlympicsAARON JOSEFCZYK / UPI / Profimedia

Team USA utterly dominated Slovakia, beating them 6-2 in the Olympic semi-finals on Friday, and will move on to face their arch-rival Canada for the gold medal.

The game is scheduled for Sunday, February 22nd (14:10 CET, 8:10 a.m. Eastern Time). Meanwhile, Slovakia will take on Finland in the bronze medal match on Saturday, February 21st. 

Game highlights

Team USA forward Dylan Larkin got things started for the Americans with his second goal of the Olympics, a game removed from scoring his first-ever Olympic goal when he found the net against Sweden

The goal was assisted by Zach Werenski and Tage Thompson, the latter of whom would score the second goal for the Americans. 

Thompson scored his third goal of the Olympics to put Team USA up 2-0 with just 41 seconds left in the first period. 

Jack Eichel (4) and Quinn Hughes (6) recorded the assists on the goal that came on Team USA's first power play. Slovakia came out of the period 0-for-2 on the power play themselves, failing to capitalize on opportunity after opportunity. 

The second period would be no different for the U.S. and Slovakia. Team USA would continue to flat-out dominate, scoring three goals, including two that game just 19 seconds apart. 

Jack Hughes scored his second goal of the Olympics to put the Americans up 3-0 as Werenski recorded his second assist.

After assisting Thompson on his earlier goal, Eichel found the net himself on a nonchalant backhander, with both assists being awarded to the Tkachuk brothers. 

It was Eichel's second goal of the Olympics, right after Hughes', making it an unreachable comeback for Slovakia as they took a 4-0 lead.

To rub salt into the wound, Team USA found the net once more to go up 5-0 before the second period ended. 

Hughes would score his second goal of the game and his third of the Olympics, with Werenski picking up his third assist of the matchup. 

Heading into the third, the U.S. outshot Slovakia 26-13. Both teams went a combined 0-6 on the powerplay in the second (SVK: 0-2). 

It would take until just 15 minutes left in the matchup for Slovakia to get up on the board to make it 5-1. Montreal Canadiens' young star Juraj Slafkovsky scored his fourth of the Olympics. He would finish the Olympics leading Slovakia in both goals (4) and assists (4), as they fell just short of what would've been their best placement ever in Olympic hockey history (at least a silver). 

But the U.S. answered with yet another, this time from Brady Tkachuk, taking advantage of his second breakaway after failing on one earlier to make it 6-1.

Slovakia would continue to show they were going to fight to the very end after Pavol Regenda scored his third goal at the Olympics to make it 6-2 as the game coasted into its end. They would finish the game going 0-for-5 on the power play. Slovakia's Martin Fehervary assisted on both of their goals.

The U.S. and Canada will now have a rematch of last year's 4 Nations Face-Off, in which Canada won 3-2 in overtime.