U.S. beats Canada in thrilling and nail-biting gold medal final at Winter Olympics

The U.S. men's hockey team beat Canada 2-1 in a thrilling and nail-biting Olympic final game exactly 46 years ago after Team USA beat the Soviet Union on the road to its last gold medal.

Jack Hughes scored 1:41 into overtime to give the U.S. its third men's title.

"We are so proud to be American," he told an NBC News correspondent. 

Unlike that ragtag group of college kids that pulled off one of the biggest upsets in sports history at the Lake Placid Games in 1980, the Americans in Milan were a machine that rode goaltender Connor Hellebuyck and a stacked roster full of NHL players through the tournament unbeaten.

The U.S got ahead early in the game with a goal from Matt Boldy exactly 6 minutes into the game. He got the puck from Auston Matthews, batted it to himself off his stick blade to maneuver between Canadian defensemen Devon Toews and Cale Makar. He then slid a backhand past goalie Jordan Binnington.

It took Canada until nearly the end of the second period to tie up the game with a goal from Makar, with an assist from Toews.

There were plenty of chances for each team to win the final. The U.S. had more than three minutes of power play time past the midway point of the third after Sam Bennett high-sticked Hughes, who then high-sticked Nick Suzuki to give Canada the same advantage.

Hellebuyck was by far the best player on the ice, stopping 41 of the 42 shots. He made the save of the tournament by getting his stick on the puck on a shot from Toews in the third period, then minutes later denied Macklin Celebrini on a breakaway.

This was the third gold medal game between the U.S. and Canada.

In attendance was former U.S. captain Mike Eruzione, who scored the go-ahead goal for the "Miracle on Ice" team to stun the Soviet Union on its way to the gold medal at the Lake Placid Winter Games in 1980.

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