Jack Hughes Says He Immediately Thought Of A Fellow American Hero After Scoring Golden Goal For Team USA
From one American hero to another.
Jack Hughes blacking out and not remembering any details about his Olympic gold medal-clinching goal for Team USA in its win over Canada would be completely understandable, but he shared that his mind actually went straight to a fellow American hero after lighting the lamp.
Hughes, who scored the game-winner less than two minutes into overtime, admitted during one of his many postgame interviews that he didn't even see the puck go in and only started celebrating when he saw teammate Dylan Larkin jumping up and down.
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The 24-year-old then shared that one of the first people he thought of after delivering the game-winning goal was Megan Keller, who scored the overtime winner for the USA women's hockey team in the gold medal game against Canada just days prior.
Both the United States' men's and women's teams won their gold medal matches by the same 2-1 overtime scoreline over their Canadian foes in Italy.
Hughes' gold-medal clinching moment came via an emphatic wrist shot that snuck past Canadian goaltender Jordan Binnington, while Keller strung together a ridiculous move to get past her defender and slide one into the back of the net for the women's side.
Mere minutes after his game-winner, Hughes turned the attention back on his beloved United States while explaining what it meant to deliver Team USA hockey its first Olympic gold medal on the men's side in 46 years.
"This is all about our country. I love the USA. I love my teammates…I'm so proud to be an American today," Hughes said.
"That's a great Canadian team, but we're USA, we're so proud to be Americans, tonight was all for the country," he continued. "It's everything, the USA hockey brotherhood means so much, we're such a team, we've been together for two weeks, but we're such a team. The USA hockey brotherhood is so strong, and we're so proud to win for our country."
Hughes' older brother, Quinn, tallied an assist in the thrilling U.S. win on Sunday as well.