Milan, Italy - Canada and the US will face off in a blockbuster Olympic men's ice hockey final after the two North American giants both got through Friday's semi-finals with Finland and Slovakia to set up a gold medal showdown.

Eyeing a record 10th Olympic title and the first since Sochi 2014, Canada cut it fine in booking their place in Sunday's final with a last-gasp 3-2 win over reigning champions Finland.

And it will be the USA standing in their way following a much more straightforward 6-2 win over Slovakia at the Santagiulia Arena in Milan.

Nathan MacKinnon slapped home the decisive goal with just 36 seconds remaining as Canada came back from two goals down to book a place in the final, with Sam Reinhart and Shea Theodore also scoring for the Canadians.

"It's everything," MacKinnon said of the final against Canada's neighbors. "It's the gold medal at an Olympic Games. We are very lucky to be here and it's a great opportunity. We have got to be ready."

Sunday's showdown will be one of the last highlights of these Games before the closing ceremony in Verona, with both teams stacked with talent from the National Hockey League.

The USA men will hope to follow the example of the country's women's team, which won Olympic gold for the first time since 2018 when they beat the Canadians 2-1 on Thursday.

Dylan Larkin, Tage Thompson, Jack Hughes (with a double), Jack Eichel, and Brady Tkachuk all scored as the USA put on a show of force against the Slovaks, who barely had a look-in all night in a contest which could be best described as one-way traffic.

"We know that we're the two best teams and when we're in the summer and we're thinking, laying in bed, thinking about the Olympics, we know that we want it to be USA v. Canada," said Hughes to Eurosport.