Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin scored the first goal of the game for USA in a 6-2 win against Slovakia that gives the Americans a shot at their first Olympic men’s hockey gold medal in 46 years.

Larkin and the Americans will play Canada for gold on Sunday. The Canadians used a late goal by Nathan MacKinnon to down Finland in their semifinals game.

The last American men’s hockey gold medal was the Miracle on Ice at Lake Placid in 1980. With Canada and USA evenly matched, a miracle isn’t required this time. This is a toss-up game.

Playing third line center, Larkin continues to be heavily praised for his work as a key role player. The Americans took control of the game early. They led 2-0 after one period and 5-0 after two.

TOI

Larkin played 15:21 minutes. He spent most of his time on a line with Jack Hughes and Tage Thompson.

Production

Larkin’s close friend Zach Werenski and Tage Thompson assisted on his goal. It came at 4:19 of the first period to give the Americans an immediate boost.

Along with his goal, Larkin had four shots on goal and was also 4-4 in the faceoff circle.  Larkin is now 29-9 (76.3%) on faceoffs in the tournament. Coach Mike Sullivan uses Larkin on every important offensive draw. Larkin also helped kill off four USA penalties.

Analysis

The NBC team continues to praise Larkin for his contributions to USA’s success. It’s clear he is one of the glue guys on the American squad. Jack Hughes seems like a good fit to play alongside him. Hughes scored twice for the Americans. . ‘. .  With USA in control of the game, coach Mike Sullivan was able to spread out the minutes to his forwards and defensemen. . . Because Canada had a tighter game, Canada coach Jon Cooper had to overplay his top players against Finland.

Game Notes

Former Red Wings player Tomas Tatar played 16:56 minutes for Slovakia, registering no points and one shot on goal. He was minus-one for the game. . . The bronze medal game between Finland and Slovakia will be played Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET. . . Sidney Crosby’s injury status (lower body) for the gold medal game is still undetermined. He did not play in today’s win against Finland.

Next Game

The Americans (5-0) play Canada (5-0) at 8 a.m. ET Sunday in the gold medal game. The last time the two teams played against each other in an Olympic gold medal game was 2010 in Vancouver when Crosby scored a golden goal in overtime to give Canada the win.