BILLINGS — Whitefish native Jake Sanderson and Team USA will go for gold at the Milan Cortina Olympics.
Sanderson and the second-seeded U.S. men's hockey team advanced with a 6-2 semifinal rout of Slovakia on Friday at the Santagiulia Arena in Milan, Italy, to earn a date with archrival and No. 1-seed Canada in the gold medal game.
Canada defeated Finland 3-2 in the other semifinal on Friday.
The U.S.-vs.-Canada matchup is scheduled for Sunday at 6:10 a.m. Mountain time and will be broadcast live on NBC and streamed on Peacock. The U.S. will try to capture its first men's hockey gold medal since the Miracle On Ice team won in 1980.
Sanderson, who plays for the NHL's Ottawa Senators, led all U.S. defensemen with three shots on goal and finished minus-1 on Friday against Slovakia. Jack Hughes had two goals and Zach Werenski had three assists to lead the American onslaught.
In five Olympic contests so far, Sanderson has two assists and is now minus-1 overall with 10 shots on goal. Sanderson had two assists in Team USA's 5-1 rout over Germany last Sunday to wrap up preliminary play.
Sanderson was born in Whitefish in 2002 and has dual citizenship of the United States and Canada. He moved from Montana to Calgary, Alberta, with his family when he was 12. Sanderson grew up playing in the Glacier Hockey Association, and later played college hockey at the University of North Dakota.
Sanderson, who was picked fifth overall by Ottawa in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, has also played internationally for Team USA in the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge, the World Junior Championships, the Ice Hockey World Championships, and the NHL's 4 Nations Face-Off.
