Team USA, Panthers’ Tkachuk dedicate gold medal to Gaudreau
Matthew Tkachuk glided past center ice Sunday with an American flag wrapped around his back, skating in lockstep with U.S. Olympic teammates Auston Matthews and Zach Werenski. Together they held up a jersey of former teammate Johnny Gaudreau, his number 13 and last name stitched on the exact white colored jersey with blue around the shoulders and “USA” written diagonally across the chest
“This was for Johnny,” Tkachuk said, departing from his usual witty and sarcastic personality. “He would have been on this team, and we know he was with us today.”
Tkachuk and the Americans won the country’s first Olympic gold in 46 years on Sunday, defeating Canada 2-1 on Jack Hughes’ overtime winner less than two minutes into overtime. Sunday’s nail-biter in front of 11,500 fans at Milan’s Santagiulia Arena — roughly a 60/40 split in favor of Canada — happened exactly 46 years to the day that the 1980 U.S. men beat the Soviet Union in the famous “Miracle on Ice” game.
The Panthers forward, 28, dedicated his gold medal to Gaudreau, a Columbus Blue Jackets and fellow national team player, who died cycling in August 2024 when a drunk driver allegedly swerved and slammed into his bicycle. Gaudreau, 31, was killed in the New Jersey crash along with his younger brother Matthew Gaudreau, 29. The past two NHL seasons have featured countless tributes to the late brothers, but perhaps none were more powerful than how Tkachuk and Team USA honored them on Sunday.
After skating around the rink holding Gaudreau’s jersey along with Werenski and Matthews, Tkachuk sang the “Star Spangled Banner” with his teammates as Olympic officials hoisted the American flag up the rafters. Flags for Canada and third-place Finland rested below Old Glory on either side. Minutes later, wearing a blue lanyard with a solid gold medal hanging across his chest, Tkachuk called into the stands for Gaudreau’s two oldest children to join the official team picture.
Three-year-old Noa rested on Werenski’s lap, Dylan Larkin held two-year-old Johnny Jr. and Tkachuk clutched Gaudreau’s jersey as the team packed together at center ice. For Tkachuk, the moment was as sweet as either of the two Stanley Cups he has won as a Panther.
“It’s been an incredibly special few years,” he said. “This is something I’ve dreamt my entire life of, and something that generations of American hockey players after us are going to remember.”
Sunday’s victory for Team USA was nothing short of stunning given how Canada seemed to significantly outplay the Americans for most of the medal game. The Canadians were more physical than the U.S. and dominated shots on goal, 42-28. Canada also spent more time in the offensive zone than the Americans and peppered U.S. goalie Connor Hellebuyck with high-quality shots throughout the game, especially in the late second period and early third period.
Tied 1-1 halfway through a third period that felt like a next-goal-wins scenario thanks to superb goalie play from Hellebuyck and Canada’s Jordan Binnington, Canada looked poised to take the lead. Nineteen-year-old Canadian forward Macklin Celebrini pulled Hellebuyck out of position with a quality scoring chance from the slot that also froze Eichel and Quinn Hughes. Instead of shooting, Celebrini passed the puck across the slot to Nathan MacKinnon, who blasted the one-timer from less than eight feet away at a wide-open net.
Instead of lighting the lamp, MacKinnon’s shot clanged off the post, in a rare mistake that he later said was “costly.” “I had a good look at it and thought I shot it well,” MacKinnon said, “obviously just not the result I wanted.”
Tkachuk believes Gaudreau is in part to thank.
“He was looking down and helping us with some of those,” he said.
Tkachuk finished the Olympics with six assists, good for second on Team USA behind Quinn Hughes of the Minnesota Wild. As usual, Tkachuk was an effective agitator of and a menace to opponents in ways that don’t show up in the limited stats that Olympic hockey tracks. He played on the Americans’ first line with brother Brady Tkachuk and Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel, delivering a number of big hits throughout the Americans’ six-game Olympic run.
Jack Hughes, an alternate captain for the New Jersey Devils who scored the winning goal despite getting several teeth knocked out on a high stick in the third period, said the U.S. team’s culture “comes from the Tkachuk brothers.” One major example: the Tkachuks spearheaded Team USA’s decision to stay in the Olympic Village in Milan instead of a hotel.
Their reason? Embracing the Olympic spirit around other U.S. athletes. Hughes said the brothers, who roomed together, kept their door open all week and personally spoke to every single American athlete competing in Milan who stayed at the village.
“Our team is a brotherhood that’s like nothing else,” Hughes said. “Chucky and Brady have upheld it and paid it forward like so many players before us that wore this jersey.”
Within seconds of Sunday’s opening faceoff, Matthew and Brady Tkachuk closed in on Canada defenseman Colton Parayko, and simultaneously leveled Parayko into the bench-side boards. Asked if the brothers planned the synchronized hit on Parayko before the game, Tkachuk didn’t answer. Brady Tkachuk smirked, though.
“We wanted to set the tone early,” he said. “Credit to them, they ended up being very physical, but we’re always going to be up for that style of a game.”
Tkachuk has a short turnaround before the Panthers resume their season on Friday against Toronto, meaning the partying with teammates and family will be somewhat abbreviated before he flies back to Florida, reunites with the team, and prepares to play later this week.
Fortunately for the Panthers, Tkachuk enters the stretch run of the NHL season relatively healthy after avoiding a significant injury in Milan. The Olympics appear to be the merciful conclusion of an adductor muscle injury from last season’s 4 Nations Face-Off that cost him the rest of the regular season last year and forced him to play hurt during the playoffs. Tkachuk timed an offseason surgery on the adductor muscle to recover and arrive in peak shape for the Olympics.
This story was originally published February 22, 2026 at 8:59 PM.
