Team USA men's hockey won the gold medal on Sunday, beating Canada to end the Milan Olympics. Jack Hughes of the New Jersey Devils was the hero, scoring the game-winning overtime goal. But he was nearly the goat after taking a high-sticking penalty late in the third period. Hughes says he saw the Barstool headlines in his future after nearly costing his team the gold.

“I pictured myself on Barstool being like, the guy that America hates because Canada scores on the powerplay. I was like, ‘Oh my God, here it is. Just glad we got out of the pickle I put us in,” Hughes said at his press conference.

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy found the comment and responded, “I promise you Jack Hughes, you will never be hated by Barstool ever. You are an American hero. A Barstool hero. A World hero.”

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Hughes has a complicated history with Barstool Sports, namely, Devils superfan Frank “The Tank” Fleming. Earlier this season, Fleming had a dinner with Devils players, at which Hughes suffered a hand injury involving some glass. He missed time amid a brutal season for New Jersey, causing some viral Fleming content.

It's only fair for Hughes to be thinking about the headlines as he stood in the penalty box. After drawing a high-sticking double minor just minutes before, Hughes high-sticked Bo Horvat to land in the box. That landed Canada 71 seconds of powerplay time with fewer than three minutes to go in the game. Team USA finished off their perfect penalty kill in the Olympics, springing Hughes from the box.

Hughes turned it around in overtime, finding open ice and beating Jordan Binnington to secure the gold medal for the Americans. In their one other overtime win, it was brother Quinn who scored to take down Sweden. The Hughes brothers were key for the Americans, and the penalty killers made sure it didn't end with Jack in the box.