Jack Hughes scores the Golden Goal, wins the gold medal for Team USA at the Winter Olympics

There are moments where great players become legends. There needs to be a certain level of stakes and some intense style of play. If there’s overtime, it’s even better. On Sunday morning, we were very likely going to name our next Olympic hockey legend. It was Canada versus the United States with a gold medal on the line.

Connor Hellebuyck was incredible the entire game, allowing just one goal despite more than 40 Canadian shots. He was as good as any player in any tournament ever. That’s probably hyperbole, but Hellebuyck became a legend in this game. He stopped multiple high-danger opportunities and even made the save of the century on Devon Toews with the edge of his stick. 

The game eventually went to overtime, which follows continuous 3v3 rules. The open ice allows for a different style of play, and that opened the door for a new legend to be born. 

That legend is Jack Hughes. The New Jersey Devils star has had a rough season, getting injured twice, including once where he was injured during a team dinner. He was facing real questions about whether he deserved to be on this team. Minnesota Wild and Team USA GM Bill Guerin made it clear that Hughes would join his brother Quinn Hughes on the team.

And he paid him back with the goal of the century for Team USA. Hughes made a move to stop an odd-man rush from Canada and allowed Columbus Blue Jackets star defenseman Zack Werenski to make a play for the puck in the offensive zone. After he got possession back, Hughes skated back into the zone all alone. 

That’s all he needed to pull Jordan Binnington’s pad up and slide it under his five hole. 

Hughes has been great for the entire knockout round. He is the Team USA leader in goals with four, including the Golden Goal. He was legitimately in the conversation for tournament MVP. 

Even before this goal, Hughes had an eventful third period. He suffered a serious stick to the face that smash multiple teeth and opened the door for a four-minute double minor. The Americans couldn’t score, and Hughes himself took a high-sticking penalty. The Americans, like they did with every power play against them, killed it to keep their chances at gold alive.

"This is all about our country right now. I love the USA. I love my teammates. "

Jack Hughes, Golden Goal scorer

Everything fell the Americans way. The same happened with women’s hockey, where Jack Hughes’ mother Ellen Weinberg-Hughes helped that team win gold. 

No matter what he does for the rest of his career, Hughes will be a hockey legend. Some players consider the gold medal an even bigger honor than a Stanley Cup, and Hughes helped the Americans win the first gold medal since NHL players returned to the Olympics. It’s the first men’s hockey gold medal for the Americans since the Miracle on Ice in 1980.

We’ll always remember this moment when Hughes scored the Golden Goal. We’ll talk about it forever, and now, Devils fans will get to exclaim how great it was to see one of their own win it for the Americans.

"I’m so proud to be American today. "

Jack Hughes, Golden Goal scorer