In the Olympic final, an incredible finish: "I saw teeth on the ice and thought: 'Not again!'"

MILANO.

The Milano-Cortina Olympics provided an incredible spectacle in the men’s ice hockey final.

The game was decided only in overtime when Jack Hughes scored the final score of 2-1.

For Hughes, the end of the match was quite unbelievable. Towards the end of the third period, he was first hit high with a stick so hard that the United States got a four-minute power play.

During the power play, Hughes managed to take a penalty himself. And in the end, he decided the match in overtime.

After the match, Hughes was asked to describe his rollercoaster-like feelings.

– I got a stick in my mouth, looked down, saw my teeth and thought: “Not again!” The last time that happened, it wasn’t very fun, Hughes started.

– We were about to have a four-minute power play, I was sure we would score. Then I got on the ice. We built a couple of pretty good chances – and then I took a penalty.

– I thought, now Canada is going to score a power play goal and I will be that guy that all of America hates. I thought, oh damn.

– Luckily, we survived that penalty. In overtime, anything can happen, whoever makes the first mistake, who gets the first 2-on-1 break.

There was more that happened in overtime. The head coach of the United States, Mike Sullivan, took the floor and asked Hughes what he was thinking before his goal when Connor McDavid attacked with the puck.

– You probably enjoyed watching me get into that situation! Hughes laughed.

– When the best player in the world – maybe the best of all time – comes at me with the puck in overtime of the final, I thought about how to take space away from him. Then I realized he couldn’t get around me because there was so little space between me and the goal.

Sullivan praised Hughes.

– He defended wonderfully. He recognized the situation well and didn’t let McDavid cut inside.

Jaakko Perttilä
X: @JaakkoPerttila