There are moments from iconic Canadian hockey games that will forever live in the minds of the country. Sidney Crosby’s golden goal in 2010. Gretzky to Lemieux in ’87. Paul Henderson humanizing Vladislav Tretiak in ’72.
Those are the beautiful ones. Not all can be that way.
Some plays exist only to haunt Canadians.
The United States knocked off Canada in the final at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics Sunday, winning 2-1 in overtime, giving the Americans their first gold medal since 1980.
Just over a minute into overtime, U.S. forward Jack Hughes took a pass in front of Canada’s net and fired the puck past Canadian goaltender Jordan Binnington, crushing the hopes of Canadian NHLers like Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon, who came to Milan in search of their first gold medal.
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That goal will be difficult to forget. But when the game is remembered by Canadians, there will be other plays, like a breakaway from McDavid or a missed net by MacKinnon, that will forever torment them.
“I had so many chances to bury it and I missed a wide open net,” a downcast MacKinnon said after the game.
“Just wasn’t meant to be, it felt like.”
In similar fashion, Canada seemed snakebitten on McDavid’s earlier breakaway. Midway through the first period, down 1-0, McDavid was sent in alone on U.S. goaltender Connor Hellebuyck. If there was one player Team Canada wanted with the puck on his stick it was him.
United States' Jack Hughes (86) scores the game winning goal against Canada's Connor McDavid (97) and Jordan Binnington (50) in overtime.Bruce Bennett/The Associated Press
McDavid has played the best hockey of his career at these Olympics, leading the team in scoring and carrying the team on his back with captain Sidney Crosby injured and out of the lineup.
Breakaways are one of McDavid’s many strengths, along with his speed. But as McDavid closed in on the net, outrunning the American defence, it appeared he was too fast. Quickly running out of time and space to make a play, he stickhandled twice and tried to stuff the puck between Hellebuyck’s outstretched leg and the post. But there was nothing there.
It wasn’t the moment that decided the game, but it was the kind of play that could have altered Canada’s course. And it was symbolic of how Canada was stymied.
“You’ve got to tip your hat to the goalie, he played great,” Canadian forward Sam Bennett said. “We had a lot of looks, we generated what we wanted. But sometimes the goalies can steal it and he did a great job.”
The U.S. opened the scoring six minutes into the first period when Matt Boldy chipped the puck through Cale Makar and Devon Toews at the Canadian blueline, broke in alone on the net and put a backhand through Binnington’s legs.
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That lead held until 1:44 remaining in the second period when Makar, taking a pass from Toews after the puck came back to Canada’s blueline, took a few strides toward the net and wired a snap shot to the far side past Hellebuyck’s outstretched arm, tying the game 1-1.
The goal caused a nervous Canadian crowd to come alive, chanting “Ole, Ole, Ole” after the goal, trying to drown out the “USA” chants of American fans.
But it was a frustrating game for Canada, which at times played messy hockey, allowing turnovers and struggling to gain entries into the U.S. zone. A missed chance to capitalize on a two-man advantage in the second period was another sign of the team’s inability to break the game open.
Then there was the open net.
Nathan MacKinnon's missed open net during the third period will haunt everyone on the Canadian side of Sunday's gold-medal game.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
About midway through the third period, a broken play resulted in the puck coming to MacKinnon on the far side of the net with Hellebuyck out of position. But MacKinnon, who has rarely missed at this tournament, uncharacteristically rung the puck off the side of the post.
When Canada thinks back on this game, it will be those moments that haunt them.
Late in the third period Bennett took a double minor after he collided with Hughes and the American was cut on the play.
Binnington faced a barrage in close as the U.S. power play unfolded, before Hughes took a high-sticking penalty himself. After less than a minute of four-on-four hockey, Canada could not capitalize with the man advantage.
It seemed like a replay of last year’s final in the 4 Nations Face-Off where McDavid won it in overtime. But on a day where the margin for error was slim, the U.S. came out on top.
“I thought we played one of our better games of the tournament,” Canadian forward Mark Stone said. “I thought we controlled the majority of the game, just couldn’t get that extra goal.”
MacKinnon said the hockey rivalry between the two countries is close. He said other people can be the judge of who the best team was in the game, but the result is that Canada leaves Milan without the gold, which was the team’s only objective.
“They won, we lost,” MacKinnon said.
Binnington said he thought the game could have gone either way.
Team Canada players react during the medal ceremony.Elsa/Getty Images
“We came hard, and a couple of bounces here and there, we have a lead,” Binnington said. “They fought hard, and our group fought hard. Just a great hockey game overall.”
The U.S. victory happened on the 46th anniversary of the American ‘Miracle on Ice’ moment, when a team of U.S. college players beat the Soviets for gold at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics.
U.S. Forward Brock Nelson’s uncle, Dave Christian, played on that 1980 team. Nelson said the win was special given his family connections.
“Crazy, 46 years to the day we beat the Russians, so it’s special,” he said. “To soak that in it means a lot.”
Coming into the tournament, the U.S. had only won gold twice, in 1960 and 1980. U.S. head coach Mike Sullivan told the team prior to the tournament that only 34 American hockey players had ever won the tournament.
“So 34 guys total in all of USA hockey history to win a gold medal. That’s what we were playing for,” defenceman Charlie McAvoy said.
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