What we covered here
• Men’s ice hockey semifinal: Team USA crushed Slovakia 6-2 and secured a gold medal clash with rivals Canada on Sunday. The Canadians advanced to the final after narrowly defeating Finland earlier today with a dramatic go-ahead goal with only 35 seconds left in regulation.
• Freestyle ski glory: USA’s Alex Ferreira won the gold medal in men’s freeski halfpipe final after giving the best jump in his final run. Estonia’s Henry Sildaru secures silver and Canada’s Brendan Mackay earns bronze.
• Curling finals set: After today’s women’s semifinals, Sweden and Switzerland will meet in the gold medal game while the US will play Canada for the bronze
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That's a wrap on another chaotic day at the Olympics. Here's what you need to know
Another great day of action with Team USA ending the evening on a high note. There was a heavy US presence in the men’s freeski halfpipe finals, and not without success, as Alex Ferreira won gold. Team USA’s men’s ice hockey team rolled Slovakia 6-2, cementing a highly anticipated rivalry showdown between the Americans and Canadians for the gold medal.
Norway continues to lead the overall medal count with 37 total and 17 golds. The US is the runner-up with 29 medals and 10 golds, while Italy is in third with 27 medals and 9 golds.
Catch up on other exciting medal moments today:
First gold of the day: Germany’s Daniela Maier won gold in the women’s ski cross in a closely-fought victory.
South Korea’s one-two: South Korea’s Kim Gilli won gold and Choi Minjeeong took silver in the women’s short-track speed skating 1500m race. USA’s Corinne Stoddard earned bronze.
The Dutch won speed skating again…and again: Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong skated her way to gold in the women’s 1500m speed skating final. The Netherlands then won the men’s 5000m relay short-track speed skating race, with Olympic favorite Jens van ‘t Wout earning his third gold medal of the games.
Swiss curling bronze: Switzerland crushed Norway 9-1 in the bronze medal curling match, after beating the US this morning.
Canadian semifinal win: Team Canada will play for gold after a remarkable comeback in men’s ice hockey, defeating Finland by a score of 3-2.
Another Norway victory: Johannes Dale-Skjevdal won gold in the men’s 15km mass start biathlon race.
Husband joins wife in gold glory: Wang Xindi took gold in the men’s aerials after a nail-biting final. Xu Mengtao, Wang’s spouse, won the women’s aerials two days ago. Talk about a power couple.
In other news:
Unexpected IOC x ‘Board of Peace’ overlap: International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry said the organization will look into one IOC member’s presence at President Donald Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ meeting yesterday.
Stars at figure skating gala: Team USA stars Alysa Liu and Ilia Malinin will headline tomorrow’s Olympic Figure Skating Gala, among other prominent skaters.
Hunter Hess doubles down: The Team USA freestyle doubled down on comments he made about representing the US at the Winter Olympics, which drew the ire of President Donald Trump. Hess placed tenth in today’s men’s freeski halfpipe finals.
CNN’s Kyle Feldscher and Thomas Schlachter contributed to this report.
US-Canada hockey game will take "full-team effort," Team USA captain says
Auston Matthews is in a unique position to talk about Sunday’s US versus Canada hockey showdown. The USA team captain also serves as captain of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs.
“I can kind of see both sides of it playing in Canada and representing the US, so it’s a great rivalry,” Matthews told NBC in an interview after the Americans win over Slovakia. “It’s going to be a really exciting match on Sunday.”
Matthews said it will take a “full-team effort,” just like today.
The US dominated the Slovaks 6-2, cementing the team’s quest for the gold against Canada on Sunday.
“We’re playing a really good team on Sunday, but we got all the belief in the world in this room and confidence in our guys, and we got to bring our A-game,” Matthews said.
USA dispatches Slovakia as the game turned chippy in the final minutes
With less than two minutes to go and the outcome no longer in question, tempers are flaring in Milan.
Slovakia’s Erik Cernak and the USA’s Matthew Tkachuk (fierce rivals in the NHL’s Atlantic Division) got into a scuffle with a few punches being thrown.
Tkachuk’s younger brother Brady got involved as well, as the referees struggled to separate the players.
Cernak and Brady Tkachuk were both issued misconduct penalties.
The final seconds ticked away uneventfully, as Team USA won 6-2 and advanced to face archrival Canada in the gold medal game on Sunday – a rematch of the 2010 Olympic final.
Meanwhile, Slovakia has a date with Finland on Saturday, with the bronze medal on the line.
USA beats Slovakia to set up epic gold-medal showdown with Canada
And so it is written: On the 19th day of competition in the XXV Winter Olympiad in the year 2026, Team USA will play Team Canada in the men’s ice hockey gold-medal grudge game that includes history, fisticuffs, bragging rights and tariffs.
The Americans’ 6-2 demolition of Slovakia delivered The Game that people have been clamoring for, and what promises to be a blood boil to close out the Olympics on Sunday afternoon here in Milan.
The hockey tension between the two bordering nations dates back for decades, back to when the USA upset Canada in Squaw Valley in 1960, and runs all the way through last year’s glove throwdown in the 4 Nations Tournament — three fights in nine seconds. Now, of course, the tensions between the US and its neighbors to the north have stretched beyond the rink and into pocketbooks, politics and Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau’s relationship.
OK, not really on the last one. But why not throw it in there?
Generally speaking it is fair to say that the kindly folks from Canada do not think so kindly of Americans anymore.
In hockey, the US got the upper hand already in one battle against Canada in these Games, the women claiming the gold medal in overtime. But history for the men belongs to Canada. The US has just one win in Olympic games that include NHL players — way back in 2010 during group play.
Ontario premier Doug Ford already has decreed his province will be allowed to sell alcohol beginning at 6 a.m. ET, ensuring that fans are ready for the 8 a.m. ET puck drop there, and Jason Kelce is in Milan, drinking all of the beer for the US.
We ready.
Brady Tkachuk adds to USA's tally with beautiful goal
Team USA has scored again to restore its five-goal lead.
Brady Tkachul got the puck on a breakaway and fooled Slovakian goalie Stanislav Skorvanek with a slick deke, then gently slid the puck past the goaltender to give the US a 6-1 lead.
It didn’t last for long. Slovakia answered with a goal from Pavol Regenda as his team refuses to stop fighting with the game seemingly out of reach.
Team USA leads 6-2.
USA star Tage Thompson out of the game as Slovakia nets its first goal
Tage Thompson, the 6’ 6” American forward who scored the second goal of the game, did not return to the ice for the start of the third period.
NBC’s broadcast showed the Buffalo Sabres’ star gingerly walking down the tunnel, with the reporter saying he was being removed from the game for precautionary reasons.
About five minutes into the final period, Slovakia’s Juraj Slavkovsky broke up the shutout with a goal to put his team on the scoreboard.
Team USA still leads 5-1.
Team USA playing for No. 13
Team USA continues to honor Johnny Gaudreau by hanging up his famed No. 13 jersey in the team’s locker room in Milan. The late seven-time NHL All-Star represented the US multiple times, whose nickname was synonymous with the sport — “Johnny Hockey.”
Some context: Gaudreau and his younger brother Matthew were both fatally struck by a suspected drunken driver while riding bikes on a New Jersey roadway in August 2024, just hours before they were scheduled to serve as groomsmen at their sister’s wedding.
The NBC broadcast showed the Gaudreau brothers’ family in the stands watching the US in the semifinal game against Slovakia.
Johnny Gaudreau’s teammate with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Zach Werenski, who often talks about Gaudreau’s lasting impact with the team and beyond, has three assists in this game.
South Korea takes gold and silver in women's 1500m short-track speed skating final
South Korea’s Kim Gilli wins gold and the USA’s Corinne Stoddard earns a bronze medal in the women’s short-track speed skating 1500m race.
As these longer short-track races tend to go, it started slow and Stoddard led most of the way. But when things started to kick up, she made her charge and passed the American and her countrywoman Choi Minjeeong, including one incredible pass on the second turn of the penultimate lap.
Choi took silver while Stoddard’s third place finsh captured her first Olympic medal. It’s a great result for the American national champion in this race.
USA in total command after 2 periods
Just 20 minutes separate Team USA from a date with Canada in the gold medal men’s hockey game in the Milan on Sunday.
Jack Hughes added a fifth goal for the US with a slap shot from the left slot — his second goal of the day — giving the Americans as big of a lead as they’ve enjoyed these entire Games.
With a 5-0 lead, a shot at gold feels inevitable now for the US, who are seeking their first men’s ice hockey gold since the 1980 “Miracle on Ice.”
"We about done, dawg"
Upon finishing his recruiting pitch to high-school aged Kyle Lowry, a local coach asked if he had any questions.
Lowry, who has since won an NBA title and an Olympic medal, epically replied, “Yeah. We about done, dawg?”
In the epic words of Lowry, this game is just about “done, dawg.”
The US is putting the hammer to Slovakia, scoring 19 seconds apart to take a 4–0 lead.
USA strikes again (and again) to take 4-0 lead
Team USA is well on its way to the gold medal game after two goals in 19 seconds to take a commanding 4-0 lead.
First, Jack Hughes showcased his brilliance, side-stepping a Slovakian defender, then going top-shelf with a wrister over the shoulder of goaltender Samuel Hlavaj.
Moments later, Jack Eichel punched in a fourth American goal from point blank range, and Team USA fans could finally let out a sigh of relief.
Hlavaj angrily punches the glass of the bench area after being pulled from the game in favor of back-up goalie Stanislav Skorvanek.
USA leads 4-0 and is going on the power play once again.
Ontario will be ready for early puck drop
Important hockey news alert: Recognizing that the gold-medal game on Sunday begins at 8 a.m local time, Ontario premier Doug Ford has ensured that fans are properly ready.
He announced on his X account that bars across the province will be permitted to start selling alcohol at six in the morning.
“Let’s all come together, support local businesses and cheer on Team Canada!” he wrote
This is how you get re-elected.
Team USA continues to lead in penalty-filled 2nd period
The second period began with Slovakia trying to impose its will on the Americans, quickly leading to an American power play after a roughing penalty on Martin Fehervary.
The second period was filled with penalties early as both teams collected a pair, but neither could convert on its power play opportunities.
The US briefly appeared to have tallied a third goal, but it was waived off after the referee determined that Jake Guentzel had kicked the puck into the goal.
The tension is building in Milan, but Team USA maintains its 2-0 advantage.
Second period underway in Team USA's semifinal against Slovakia
The puck has dropped in the second period, with Team USA holding a 2-0 lead over Slovakia with a shot at the gold medal hanging in the balance.
The US is 40 minutes away from advancing to its first gold medal match since 2010. Slovakia has never reached the gold medal game.
The Dutch win a thrilling 5000m relay in short-track speed skating
The Netherlands just won the men’s 5000m relay short-track speed skating race and they are celebrating like you wouldn’t believe.
The South Korean team, which took silver, is similarly elated by their silver medal finish, which is less than one-hundredth of a second faster than the bronze-medal-winning Italians.
The race was thrilling until the very end, with the lead switching back and forth between the Dutch and the South Koreans with the Italians keeping pace. In the final two laps, the Dutch hit the after burners and pulled away for a decisive victory.
The chaos that is short-track speed skating thrills again!
First period observations: On pinnies, skating geese and a US lead
First period observations: we need pinnies.
Both Team USA and Slovakia are wearing blue pants and blue helmets. So the top and bottoms of their bodies are effectively the same. In between USA’s jersey go from white to blue, while Slovakia’s go blue to white.
This is too much and too difficult. Clearly we cannot change the country’s colors, and while we know this arena is brand new (and not even finished), someone surely must have a stack of pinnies around somewhere.
Also the coolest job here might be the ice-cleaner-uppers (they may have a more official name) who come out during breaks to make like a baseball ground crew and clear the ice. It’s not just that the job is cool; they start out in a choreographed V formation, kinda like skating geese.
No longer is Zamboni driver the best job in hockey.
Oh, and the US leads, 2-0, has already killed two power plays advantages, tossed 11 shots on goal to Slovakia’s eight, and Brady Tkachuk got in a little chippy action, and lost his helmet.
Alas he put it back on and it was still blue.
USA scores late to take 2-0 lead into the first intermission
Team USA seemed to have the initiative in this semifinal in the early going, but a pair of penalties stopped the momentum and put the American penalty kill to the test.
The Americans were up to the task both times, improving to a perfect 12-for-12 on penalty kills in these Olympics.
In the final minutes of the opening period, the Americas seemed to regain their footing, creating several chances that put the pressure on Slovakian goalie Samuel Hlavaj.
With just under a minute left of the clock, Slovakia’s Milos Kelemen was called for tripping to put the US on the power play.
Team USA wasted no time taking advantage, with a big slap shot from Tage Thompson that caromed off Hlavaj’s shoulder and into the net to double the American advantage.
USA leads 2-0 after the first period.
Oh, to be Jason Kelce
In my next life, I’d like to come back as Jason Kelce. Not the NFL offensive lineman part. That seems hard. The after-NFL life.
I could do that.
After Team USA scored, they cut to Kelce having a good time in the stands. Because that’s what he gets to do. Have a good team and cheer.
Swiss men's curlers win bronze after crunching Norway
The Swiss men’s curling team was upset in the semifinal round, but they will not be leaving Italy without a medal after crunching Norway in the bronze medal match.
The 9-1 stomping ends after nine ends because the Norwegians simply can’t come back from that deficit. An impressive performance by the dominant force in this tournament, even though this is not the medal they’d have been hoping for.
As they jump and celebrate on the ice, it doesn’t seem to disappoint them too much right now.
