(Video) Jack Hughes Gets Emotional Following Rousing Ovation After Team USA’s Olympic Win

Jack Hughes scored the overtime winner against Canada in the gold medal game and clinched a historic 2-1 win for the United States.

(Video) Jack Hughes Gets Emotional Following Rousing Ovation After Team USA’s Olympic Win

Jack Hughes (Image via X/@CollinRugg/X/@NJDevils)

Jack Hughes returned to the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday following Team USA’s historic win over Canada in the Winter Olympics. The forward would receive a rousing ovation from the Devils fans at the Prudential Center which left him emotional.

The 24-year-old etched his name in American sports folklore with his golden goal. In a rematch of the 4 Nations Face-Off Championship game, it was Hughes and the Americans who struck first through Matt Boldy.

His goal in the first period gave them an early lead. Canada fought back and came back on level terms in the second period through Cale Makar. A snipe shot from the Colorado Avalanche star flew past a towering Connor Hellebuyck.

With no goals in the third period, the game finished 1-1 at the end of the regulation period. This meant that the gold medal game would go into overtime.

16 years ago, the two teams had gone into overtime at the Vancouver Games. On that occasion, Sidney Crosby came up with the golden goal and sealed a 3-2 overtime win.

This time, there was no Crosby. The Canadian captain sustained a lower-body injury in the quarter finals and did not play in the gold medal game.

Canada instead would have Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar in this period. The USA, on the other hand, had Jack Hughes, Zach Werenski and Dylan Larkin.

After blocking off McDavid near the U.S. goal, the Americans would break away. After Werenski skated towards the opposing goal, he would pull back the puck to Hughes, who would bury it past Jordan Binnington and complete a 2-1 overtime victory.

Hughes’ goal saw the United States clinch an Olympic gold medal in men’s ice hockey for the first time since 1980. This victory coincidentally came on the 46th Anniversary of the “Miracle of Ice” game, which saw the U.S. beat the dominant Soviet Union 4-3 enroute to winning gold.

Wednesday saw Hughes return to his team, the New Jersey Devils. Before their game against the Buffalo Sabres, he received a hero’s welcome from the crowd.

As the fans stood up and roared in his appreciation, the NHLer was left emotional. He would later express gratitude towards the fans and his teammates for their support.

Before that, Hughes would skate over to the opposition bench and grab Tage Thompson, his fellow American teammate and bring him towards the center ice. The two stars would receive a huge reception from the crowd.

Jack Hughes “proud” of both men’s and women’s hockey team

Before Jack Hughes and the men’s hockey team defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime to bring home the gold, the women’s team had done the same. They also took down Canada 2-1 in overtime through a Megan Keller goal. While addressing the fans, Hughes would claim he was “proud” of both the teams.

Jack Hughes
Jack Hughes (Image via Fox News)

Just like the men’s team, the USA women’s hockey team was hoping to avenge some of their previous defeats against Canada. The team had a dominating run till the final and had crushed the Canadians 5-0 in the early stages.

In the gold medal game, they would find themselves 1-0 down as Kristin O’Neill scored in the second period. This was just the second goal the United States had conceded and brought an end to a remarkable 352-minute shutout streak.

The U.S. would level the game late in the third period through captain Hilary Knight. Her goal came with just around 2 minutes left in the regulation period.

In the 3-on-3 overtime period, Keller would become the hero for her team. She would receive the puck and skate across the defense before slotting it into the back of the net to seal a 2-1 overtime win.

This win turned out to be a 3rd Olympic gold medal in women’s ice hockey for the United States. They would also avenge the 2022 loss against Canada in Beijing.

Hughes, whose name has been cemented in history books, would speak on the triumph of both teams and claim he was happy to see them bring back the gold medals to the United States of America.

I’m so proud and I’m so happy that the men’s and women’s USA hockey teams brought gold medals back to the United States of America.

Jack Hughes said

Speaking of the Sabres-Devils game, Hughes and his side ended up losing 2-1. Goals from Tage Thompson and Peyton Krabs had put them 2-0 up. While Timo Meier pulled one back through an assist from Hughes, they were unable to avoid defeat on their return to NHL action.

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