![[US, Mexico & Canada customers only] Feb 20, 2026; Milan, Italy; Jack Hughes of United States celebrates scoring their fifth goal with Matt Boldy against Slovakia in a men's ice hockey semifinal during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. Mandatory Credit: David W Cerny/Reuters via Imagn Images](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_90,w_2872,h_1615/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/103/01kj2vqtwm3913m90nxx.jpg "[US, Mexico & Canada customers only] Feb 20, 2026; Milan, Italy; Jack Hughes of United States celebrates scoring their fifth goal with Matt Boldy against Slovakia in a men's ice hockey semifinal during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. Mandatory Credit: David W Cerny/Reuters via Imagn Images")
The Minnesota Wild continue to have a positive affect for the United States at the 2026 Winter Olympics. First it was Quinn Hughes’ overtime goal against Czechia that propelled them into the semi-finals. Now it was Matt Boldy.
The Wild forward opened the scoring against Canada in the gold-medal game as he took a feed in the neutral zone, skated into the Canadian end, and split two defenders before sliding it past Jordan Binnington. The goal gave the Americans a 1-0 lead that has held up through the first 30 minutes of play.
It was the second goal of the tournament for Boldy, who scored in the qualifying round against Denmark. Wild fans aren’t surprised that the 24-year-old would come up clutch for Team USA. The winger has already set a new career high in goals with 32 this season and has tallied 134 times in his 339 career games with Minnesota.
For most of the tournament, Boldy has been skating on the second line for Team USA with Toronto's Auston Matthews and Tampa Bay's Jake Guentzel. While the line hasn't piled up the goals (Matthews has 3, Guentzel has 1, and Boldy now has 2) they have generated a lot of chances for the Americans.
Both Binnington and Connor Hellebuyck have been sharp through the first half of the game as the best players in the world have launched a combined 26 shots on net through the first half of the game with Boldy’s shot the only one to find the back of the net.
Hughes picked up the secondary assist on the goal to bring his point total to 8 points (1 goal, 7 assists).