Winter Olympics 2026: Jack Hughes' 'lost' game-winning puck turns up exactly where it's supposed to be

In his frantic rush to celebrate his game-winning, overtime goal in the gold-medal game of the 2026 Winter Olympics, Jack Hughes forgot to keep track of a pretty crucial item: The puck. Hughes caused a bit of a commotion Thursday when he admitted he had "no idea" what happened to the game-winning puck after his goal. 

Turns out, the "lost" puck didn't actually go missing and is exactly where it's supposed to be. A spokesperson for the International Ice Hockey Federation told Sportico that the puck has been secured by the Hockey Hall of Fame, where it will be displayed among other notable items from the Milan Cortina Games. 

That was later confirmed by Kelly Masse, the director of corporate and media relations at the Hockey Hall of Fame, who revealed a handful of other pieces of memorabilia that will be shown off at the Hall.

Those items include:

• The game-winning puck from the men's gold-medal game

• The game-winning puck from the women's gold-medal game

• A Hilary Knight jersey

• A Connor McDavid jersey

• A William Nylander jersey

Both the Team USA men and women managed to take home the gold medal at the 2026 Olympics in eerily-similar ways. Both contests took place against Canada and ended 2-1 after the U.S. won both games in overtime. On the men's side, it was Hughes who gave Team USA the win. For the women, it was Megan Keller, who deked a defender before shooting the puck just past the goalkeeper. 

Knight became one of the biggest names at the 2026 Winter Olympics thanks to her excellent play. Knight was a dominant force for Team USA, eventually scoring a record-setting 15th career Olympic goal and setting the all-time USA Olympic points record with 33. Prior to the games, Knight, 36, said this would be the final time she would compete in the Olympics. 

Despite losing in the gold-medal game, McDavid took home the MVP award for his performance in the Olympics on the men's side. McDavid scored 13 points across six games, breaking the record for most points in a single men's Olympic ice hockey tournament. 

While Hughes' jersey isn't a part of that collection heading to the Hall of Fame, he gets the honor of being the one responsible for winning the game. While Hughes was a little distracted after pulling off that feat, it's good to know officials were on top of securing key equipment immediately after the game ended so that those items could be preserved and shown off for years to come.