USA Men's Hockey's Historic Olympic Gold Medal Win vs. Canada Sets TV Ratings Record

The United States men's hockey team's 2-1 overtime victory over Canada to capture a gold medal in the 2026 Winter Olympics drew a large audience.

NBC announced Tuesday that the game was watched by 20.7 million viewers across NBC, Peacock and Versant's USA Network while peaking at 26.0 million live viewers on NBC and Peacock during Jack Hughes' game-winning goal.

It represented the most-watched sporting event to start before 9 a.m. ET in U.S. history, per the announcement.

Hughes' goal gave the United States its first men's hockey gold medal at the Olympics since the memorable 1980 Games.

Matt Boldy provided Team USA with an early 1-0 lead on Sunday, but Canadian defenseman Cale Makar tied the game just before the end of the second period.

The United States was able to stay alive before Hughes' final goal largely due to the performance of goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, who recorded 41 saves.

Hughes was named the tournament's Best Defender while Hellebuyck was selected as the tournament's Best Goaltender.