It was a risk from the start, but to the players on Canada’s women’s Olympic hockey team, it was a gamble worth taking.
In an Olympics where few thought they could win, Team Canada brought an older, veteran-laden roster to the Milan Cortina Olympics for one last shot at gold together, facing off against a younger, faster American squad.
If they were going out, they were going out together.
And they nearly pulled off the feat.
Canada led 1-0 deep into the third period, before the U.S. pulled its goaltender for an extra attacker and tied the game with just over two minutes remaining, forcing three-on-three overtime.
With her knee taped up for the gold medal final, Poulin hid the pain from her Canadian teammates
Just over four minutes into the extra period, Megan Keller deked through Canadian defender Claire Thompson, broke in on the Canadian net and put a backhand past goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens to win the game. The American fans in attendance erupted while players on the Canadian bench buried their heads.
Claire Thompson lays on the ice as Megan Keller celebrates after scoring the game-winner in overtime.Mike Segar/Reuters
The silver medal will likely be the Olympic swan song for many key veterans on the Canadian team, including Natalie Spooner, 35, Jocelyne Larocque, 37, and possibly captain Marie-Philip Poulin, 34, though she has not yet decided.
“Tough to lose that way,” Ms. Spooner said afterward, fighting back tears.
“I thought we were right there all game. I thought we had a great start. We had a good forecheck. We were getting chances. Probably maybe one of the best games we’ve been able to put together and it’s tough, you know, when you lose that way.”
But the heartbreaking loss wasn’t without a fight. In a remarkable turnaround from when these two teams met earlier in the tournament and the U.S. dominated in a 5-0 victory, Canada emerged hungry and took the gold-medal game to the Americans.
The Canadians attacked in numbers, they sped down the wings, they put dangerous shots on net, and they got stellar goaltending. In short, Canada did everything the U.S. had done to them when the two teams first met in Milan.
Women’s hockey at the Olympics has always been ruled by these two countries. Canada has won five of the eight gold medals handed out in women’s hockey since the sport was introduced in 1998. The U.S. has now won the other three.
It was their seventh meeting in the gold-medal game, with Canada winning four times. The only time the U.S. didn’t make it to the final game, at the 2006 Turin Games, Canada defeated Sweden to win the gold.
Canada was the defending gold-medal winner from Beijing 2022, but the U.S. was the reigning world champion coming into Thursday’s game.
And Canada had dropped its last seven games against the U.S., a sign of how the tables were turning in this tense rivalry over the past year.
Kristin O'Neill scored Canada's lone goal.Carolyn Kaster/The Associated Press
“I thought the group should be definitely very proud of the effort they put forth,” head coach Troy Ryan said. “I think their play and their mentality, even more important than their play, put them in a position to potentially win that game.”
If Canada was going to beat the U.S., it would need to find a way to solve American netminder Aerin Frankel, which has not been easy for any team at these Olympics.
Ms. Frankel had let in just one goal on 68 shots in her five games in the tournament, giving her a remarkable .985 save percentage.
After an unsuccessful first-period power play, Canada began to generate pressure on the goalie.
In one sequence that had the U.S. scrambling, Emily Clark fired a shot on the U.S. net and the puck deflected high in the air. Laura Stacey gloved down the rebound and snapped it back at the net.
It was the kind of rapid-fire barrage that was missing from their first meeting with the U.S., but Canada couldn’t solve Ms. Frankel.
Just under a minute into the second period, with Canada on the penalty kill, Ms. Stacey collected a loose puck near the Canadian blueline and raced in on a two-on-one with Kristin O’Neill.
Ms. Stacey drew the U.S. defender and fed a pass across to Ms. O’Neill who pulled the puck to her backhand and around the sprawling Ms. Frankel, putting Canada up 1-0.
It was the first time the U.S. had trailed at these Olympics, and it ended an American shutout streak of 3:52.17.
From inside the penalty box, Canadian defender Ella Shelton banged the glass in celebration.
Students at a Toronto school react to Canada's nail-biting loss against the U.S. in women's hockey at the Winter Olympics.
The lead held until late in the third period, which was another back-and-forth battle. The Americans broke Canada’s shutout with just over two minutes remaining.
With the goaltender pulled for an extra attacker, U.S. defender Laila Edwards sent a point shot on net that was tipped by captain Hilary Knight to tie the game 1-1, sending it to overtime.
Despite the late third-period goal, the Canadian players believed they were poised to take down the Americans for gold. Ms. Keller’s goal left them in disbelief.
“It’s heartbreaking. Obviously you see the tears, you feel the emotions. We were minutes away from having gold medals around our necks,” Ms. Stacey said.
“And I think the reason it hurts so bad is because of how much pride we have,” she said.
“Every single person in that locker room wanted it – wanted it for their country, wanted it for this team, but more importantly, wanted it for the person next to them.”
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