U.S. raises game for rematch

Jack Hughes leads rout of Slovakia to set up another showdown with rival Canada

- BY KEVIN BAXTER

Photographs by ROBERT GAUTHIER Los Angeles Times

JACK EICHEL lifts his arms for his goal in a 6-2 victory that puts the U.S. in the final against Canada, which has won the past two Olympics with NHL players.

MILAN The U.S. and Canada faced off in the men's and women's hockey finals in the same Olympics twice before the Milan-Cortina Games. Both times Canada took home all the gold.

Now the Americans have a chance at a sweep of their own after the men's team routed Slovakia 6-2 on Friday to advance to the goldmedal game Sunday, when they will face you guessed it-- Canada. The U.S. women have already done their part, beating Canada in overtime in their final Thursday.

"They wore our colors proudly.

Couldn't be more proud of them," Winnepeg Jets' goaltender Connor Hellebuyck said of the women's team. "Now it's our turn." "Hopefully," forward Jake Guentzel added, "we can follow what they did."

The two U.S. teams followed different paths to their finals. The women laid waste to the competition, outscoring their opponents 31-1 in the first five games. The men also averaged a tick over five goals a game in the preliminary round plus looked a little rusty doing it.

With players on its roster from 17 NHL teams, chemistry was a work in progress for the U.S. men in the early going. That work is done now, said Minnesota Wild defenseman Quinn Hughes, who had one assist Friday and leads the team with six.