For the first time in 46 years, Team USA has won the gold medal in men’s hockey at the Olympics. They swept the round robin portion, survived an overtime scare from Sweden, and decimated Slovakia to reach the gold medal game. And when they got there, Connor Hellebuyck made 41 saves against Canada to win gold at the Olympics. Team USA alternate captain Matthew Tkachuk sees some similarities between Sunday’s win and the last time the US won gold.
“It’s going to go down as one of the best performances of all time — it has to,” Matthew Tkachuk told ESPN’s Emily Kaplan. “Right up there with Jimmy Craig [in 1980], all the great United States goaltenders. In the NHL, whatever type of hockey, whatever goaltending performance you want to talk about, that’s right up there.”
His fellow Michigander and Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin agrees, “That guy should never buy a drink in the state of Michigan ever again.”
Craig was the goalie for Team USA when they beat the Soviet Union in 1980, which is now referred to as the Miracle on Ice. Two days later, Craig was back in net against Finland, when the Americans clinched the gold. His remarkable performances, namely 37 consecutive minutes without allowing a goal against the heavily-favored Russian squad, were key to that gold medal.
Hellebuyck’s 41 saves will go right next to Craig’s Lake Placid performances in the USA Hockey history books. The defending Hart Trophy winner was great against Sweden as well, but his performance against Canada will be the one remembered for generations.
The Americans allowed 19 shots on goal in the second period, all but one of which were saved by Hellebuyck. That kept the game tied and gave the US a chance in the third period, and later overtime. Without that performance, no gold medals are coming home to the United States.
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