Makar tied at 1-1 at 18:16 of the second. After an icing, Canada won the face-off and eventually the puck found the stick of Toews, who passed cross-ice to Makar, who walked into the face-off circle and picked the far corner with a snap shot.
Canada outshot the U.S. 19-8 in the second.
Matt Boldy gave the U.S. a 1-0 lead at 6:00 of the first with a a brilliant effort. Bearing down on two defenders at the blue line, Boldy flipped the puck between Makar and Toews, gained position on the latter and deked to his backhand before pushing the puck past Binnington.
It was the fastest goal to start a gold medal game in an Olympics with NHL players. Tony Amonte scored at 8:49 against Canada in 2002.
Hellebuyck made 14 saves in the third period.
“Just a resilient group, top to bottom, we’re a team,” Team USA captain Auston Matthews told CBC. “It doesn’t matter who gets it done, it’s all about the team first. There’s no individual and it’s just a special group of guys, we’re all so close.
“We came so close last year in the 4 Nations, and it was even closer here and to get it done, it’s such an incredible feeling. It feels so good.”