Matthew Tkachuk of USA vies for the puck against Germany players during the men's preliminary round game at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milano, Italy, on Sunday, February 15, 2026. Photo by Fazry Ismail/EPADarryl CooteMon, February 16, 2026 at 3:06 AM UTC·4 min readFeb. 15 (UPI) -- The American men, led by Captain Auston Matthews and his three-point performance, beat Germany 5-1 on Sunday, advancing to the quarterfinal round of Olympic play in Milan.
With the win, Team USA finished at the top of Group C, and will face the winner of Tuesday's playoff between Sweden and Latvia.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"It's not about me personally. I think it's about the team and everybody is contributing and doing the right things, doing the little things that go a long way," Matthews told reporters in the mixed zone after the game in which the star center had two goals and an assist.
"I thought we had a great effort from everybody tonight from the drop of the puck. I thought we had a better start than last night and continued to build on our overall game."
The U.S. men's team was the heavy favorites going into the game, and though they beat both previous opponents, their 6-3 win over Denmark on Saturday left room for questions to be asked about goaltending and defense.
Following an arguably nervous start for the Americans, the game looked like it would head into the first intermission scoreless when, in the dying seconds, defenseman Zach Werenski put Team USA on the scoresheet.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementA fight for the puck in the corner to the right of the German net saw Matthews pick it up along the boards near the hashmarks. He then saucer passed it to Werenski, who was slipping down into the left faceoff circle. With less than 10 seconds to go, Werenski took a quick wrist shot, sending it past German goaltender Maximilian Franzreb.
In the second, after killing off an early penalty, the U.S. team drew one of their own and got their second goal of the game.
After Team USA gained the German zone, Quinn Hughes threw a puck on net that bounced off the breastplate of Franzreb and then off the stick of Matthews, sliding the puck through his legs and into the back of the net. Hughes and Matthew Tkachuk were awarded assists on the play.
The Americans scored their third goal of the game in the dying minutes of the second.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOn gaining the German zone, Brady Tkachuk shot the puck into the left corner. His brother, Matthew Tkachuk, picked it out at the top of the circle as it ringed around the boards and shoveled it up to the point, where Brock Faber threw it toward the net. Franzreb, attempting to catch the puck, which was soaring high, was unable to snare it with Jack Eichel in front, and redirected it into his own net.
Then early in the third period, Tage Thompson put the Americans up 4-0 with a quick one-timer.
Jake Sanderson, with the puck, skated down from Germany's blueline to pass the puck to Dylan Larkin behind the net. Larkin passed it to Thompson near the blue line and wired a shot over the blocker of Franzreb.
Matthews then got his second goal of the game with about 13 minutes left in the third.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementWith Team USA in control, defenseman Noah Hanifin at the right point passed it to his partner Jake Sanderson, who skated it into the circle where he let off a shot-pass for Matthews in front, and the captain redirected the puck into the net.
With the game pretty much out of contention, Tim Stutzle put Germany on the board.
Forward John Peterka stole the puck from the Americans, who were about to exit their zone, and made a short pass to Stutzle, who had time and space to skate toward the net before cutting around a diving Hanifin. He snapped a quick wrist shot over the glove of Connor Hellebuyck.
"It was a pretty much full 60 minutes," Matthew Tkachuk told reporters following the game.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement"There were some shifts where we hemmed in a little bit, but we played tight and we blocked shots, live to fight another day."
Hellebuyck stopped 23 of 24 shots in the win. Franzreb made 32 saves in the loss.
Team USA finished as the second seed in the tournament behind Canada, who trounced France 10-2 on Sunday and finished as the first seed with a +17 goal differential to the USA's +11.
Both Canada and the United States get a bye into the quarterfinals. While USA will play the winner of Sweden and Latvia, Canada will play the winner of Czechia and Denmark on Tuesday.
Both Canada and the USA play next on Wednesday.
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