The United States men's hockey team defeated Germany 5-1 on Sunday to finish the preliminary round undefeated at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Auston Matthews scored twice and added an assist, leading the Americans to the second overall seed and a bye to the quarterfinals. The victory secures their matchup against the winner of Sweden and Latvia.
At Santagiulia Arena in Milan, Team USA closed out Group C with a dominant performance against Germany in the men's hockey tournament of the 2026 Winter Olympics. The Americans, coached by Mike Sullivan, improved to 3-0-0-0, clinching first place in their group and the second seed overall behind Canada, which finished with a plus-17 goal differential to the U.S.'s plus-11.
The game began slowly for the U.S., but Zach Werenski opened the scoring at 19:51 of the first period with his first Olympic goal, assisted by captain Auston Matthews on a cross-ice pass after a German turnover. The Americans outshot Germany 15-8 in the opening frame.
In the second period, Matthews added a power-play goal at 3:25, sweeping in a rebound after Quinn Hughes' shot hit German goaltender Maximilian Franzreb. Brock Faber extended the lead to 3-0 at 17:35 when his shot from the right point deflected off Franzreb's glove, possibly disrupted by Jack Eichel's tip attempt; no review was needed, and the goal stood.
The third period saw Tage Thompson blast a one-timer from the blue line at 1:55, assisted by Dylan Larkin, for a 4-0 advantage. Matthews notched his second goal at 6:46, deflecting Jake Sanderson's pass at the net front. Tim Stützle finally solved Connor Hellebuyck at 11:22, lifting a shot over the glove for Germany's lone tally.
Hellebuyck made 23 saves in the win, while Franzreb stopped 32 shots. Germany finished 1-0-2-0 and will play in the qualification round.
Sullivan praised the effort: "I thought it was our most complete game of the tournament." Matthews reflected, "Our goal coming in was to go 3-0 in group play... we accomplished that." Teammates lauded Matthews' leadership, with Jake Guentzel noting, "He’s been great all tournament... an unbelievable player."
Team USA next faces the Sweden-Latvia winner on February 18 at 3:10 p.m. ET.
