USA Hockey Stars Matthews and Hughes Collide in Olympic Power Play Mishap
The USA men's hockey team narrowly avoided a potentially disastrous moment during their clash against Germany in Milan on Sunday. The Americans faced Leon Draisaitl and his teammates in the final game of the preliminary round-robin stage of the Winter Olympics, with a slim chance of stealing the No. 1 seed from Canada. However, captain Auston Matthews, aged 28, and Jack Hughes, aged 24, almost made that task significantly more challenging when they collided with each other on the ice.
A Bizarre High-Speed Collision
In a barely believable moment, the Toronto Maple Leafs star and New Jersey Devils forward clashed in a high-speed collision. The two forwards appeared to be chasing down a drop pass from defender Quinn Hughes, who is Jack's older brother. With their focus locked on the puck, they collided, sending each other tumbling to the ice. To make the situation more bizarre, the incident occurred during a power play in the Americans' own end, with the US enjoying a man advantage.
Hughes appeared slightly shaken as he took a few seconds to get back to his skates, while Matthews also took a moment to reset. Thankfully for the US, neither player appeared to be injured. The USA captain was later spotted exchanging words with his younger teammate on the American bench after they escaped the incident without giving up a goal or causing harm.
Social Media Reaction and Redemption
Hockey fans were stunned by the moment and took to social media to mock the two NHL stars. One fan quipped on X, 'Jack Hughes and Auston Matthews, Olympic hockey players OR figure skating ice duos? The world may never know.' Another sarcastic viewer wrote, 'Hey Jack Hughes and Auston Matthews, you’re not supposed to take out your own team.' A third said, 'It's been 10 minutes and I haven't stopped laughing about the Auston Matthews Jack Hughes collision.' A fourth gobsmacked viewer questioned, 'Jack Hughes and Auston Matthews what the hell was that.'
Matthews, who was wearing the 'C' on his jersey as he did in the 4 Nations tournament 12 months ago, managed to redeem himself later in the game. He doubled the USA's lead just minutes into the second period by converting on another American power play, marking his second power play goal of the tournament when he forced a rebound home. He struck again with 13 minutes remaining in the game to put the Americans up 5-0, tipping a pass from Jake Sanderson right up under the crossbar to grab his second of the night.
Game Outcome and Tournament Implications
The USA wrapped up the Olympic preliminary stage with a comfortable 5-1 victory over Germany, an improvement on their earlier shaky 6-3 win over Denmark. However, the Americans' unbeaten start to the Olympics wasn't enough to clinch the No. 1 seed heading into the knockout round, forcing the USA to settle for the second seed. Canada put such a beatdown on France, winning 10-2, that the US would have had to run up the score and beat Germany by 10 goals to pass the tournament favorite. The North American rivals cannot meet until the gold medal game.
They have to get there first. The US is set to face the winner of the qualification round game on Tuesday between Sweden and Latvia, while Canada plays Czechia or Denmark in the quarterfinals on Wednesday.
