MILAN — The much-anticipated but never guaranteed U.S.-Canada showdown for gold in men's hockey at the Olympics is on.

Jack Hughes scored two goals, including one with a highlight-reel individual effort, and the Americans rolled into the final by routing Slovakia 6-2 in the semifinals Friday night.

They'll meet tournament favorite and top-seeded Canada on Sunday for the title, a year since the North American rivals played two memorable games against each other at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

That NHL-run event ended a drought of nearly a decade without an international tournament featuring the best hockey players in the world. Three fights in the first nine seconds in the first meeting put the 4 Nations in the spotlight, and the epic final won by Canada in overtime only built the anticipation for the Olympics.

After Canada did its part by rallying to beat Finland earlier in the day, the U.S. had no trouble against the Slovaks, who made an improbable run and were simply overmatched. They'll face the Finns for bronze Saturday night, looking for just the second hockey medal in the country's history after getting the first with a third-place finish in Beijing in 2022.

The U.S. is playing for gold after the semifinals were a much easier go than the quarterfinals against Sweden, when overtime was needed to survive a scare. Dylan Larkin, Tage Thompson, Hughes and Eichel scored the four goals on 23 shots that chased Samuel Hlavaj out of Slovakia's net past the midway point of the second period.

Thompson, one of just a handful of newcomers who did not play at the 4 Nations, exited later in the second after blocking a shot. He was held out the rest of the way, according to the NBC broadcast.

Hughes got his second just after a power play expired, and Brady Tkachuk scored on a breakaway with just over nine minutes left to provide some more breathing room.

Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck did his job as his teammates outshot Slovakia by a substantial margin. Everything he has done at the Olympics has validated coach Mike Sullivan's decision to go with Hellebuyck as the U.S. starter over Jake Oettinger and Jeremy Swayman.

The U.S. last reached the final in 2010 when it lost to Canada in overtime on Sidney Crosby’s famous golden goal. Crosby's status is uncertain this time after getting injured in the quarterfinals Wednesday and not playing Friday against Finland.

Canada advanced to the gold medal game after Nathan MacKinnon scored the go-ahead goal with 35.2 seconds in a 3-2 win over Finland.

Sidney Crosby did not play for Canada because of an injury. It was not immediately clear if the 38-year-old Pittsburgh Penguins star would be available Sunday.

Crosby appeared to injure his right knee in the second period of the quarterfinals against Czechia on Wednesday night.

The tournament favorite had trailed 2-0 before Sam Reinhart cut the deficit in the second period and Shea Theodore tied it midway through the third period.

American freeskier Alex Ferreira won silver at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games and bronze four years ago in Beijing in the men’s halfpipe.

The 31-year-old Ferreira added a gold medal to his collection by winning the halfpipe final on Friday.

The Aspen, Colo., native also delivered the United States its first gold medal in nearly two weeks of freeskiing or snowboarding at the Livigno snow park in the Italian Alps.

Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong of the Netherlands won her first Olympic gold, and sixth career medal overall, by finishing first in speedskating’s 1,500 meters.

Rijpma-de Jong finished in 1 minute, 54.9 seconds, as thousands of Dutch fans roared in the stands. She was 0.06 faster than silver medalist Ragne Wiklund of Norway. Canada's Valerie Maltais took bronze.

Earlier at these Games, Dutch women also took gold at shorter distances — Femke Kok in the 500 and Jutta Leerdam in the 1,000.

Japanese star Miho Takagi, who won consecutive silver medals in the 1,500 meters at the past two Olympics, finished sixth.

Sweden beat top-ranked Canada 6-3 to advance to the gold medal game in women's curling. The Swedes, ranked No. 12, will face Switzerland in Sunday's final.

Sweden has won the women’s competition three times since curling returned to the Olympic program in 1998.

Switzerland beat the United States 7-4 in Friday's other semifinal and will be aiming for its first women’s gold at the Olympics.

Canada will play the U.S. for bronze Saturday.