What. A. Game.

The US team had a lot to prove going in to this gold medal game. The last time they faced Canada for the gold medal in 2014, the US team gave up a two goal lead in the third period and lost to a goal from Marie-Philip Poulin in overtime to win the fourth consecutive gold medal for Canada. Heading in to the 2018 Olympics, Team USA had one goal: knock Canada off their golden throne.

Yesterday, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan kicked off the campaign to bring the NHL to Seattle. Even though Seattle hasn’t housed a major league hockey team since 1924, many Seattle hockey organizations and fans were glued to the TV while the US and Canada battled on the ice.

Sixty Minutes Was Not Enough

The game was high-octane from the beginning with both teams playing with speed and emotions running high. The Canadian team took three penalties in a row, giving up six minutes of scoring opportunities to the US in the first period.

Finally, during the third US power play, Hilary Knight planted herself in front of Canadian goalie, Shannon Szabados and redirected the puck in to make it 1-0, US.

The Canadians found their game in the second period. Two minutes in, Canadian forward Haley Irwin caught a puck from the right side and batted it in to tie the game, 1-1. A few minutes later, Marie-Philip Poulin, fresh from the penalty box, took a shot from the slot to beat US goaltender Maddie Rooney. The second period ended with the Canadian team in the lead, 2-1.

“We just got to focus on what we can do and what we can control… and be in the moment,” US team forward Gigi Marvin told Pierre McGuire during the second intermission.

For most of the third period, the US and Canada played an even game, both teams skating from end to end—hungry and fighting for a goal. With just over six minutes to go in the third period, Monique Lamoureux-Morando caught a pass during a Canadian line change and scored on the breakaway to tie the game for the US, 2-2.

After killing a last-minute penalty, the US pushed the game to sudden-death overtime!

A Nail-Biting Olympic Overtime

With overtime hockey about to begin at the Olympics, the newly minted @NHLSeattle twitter account, representing the Seattle NHL season ticket drive efforts, started talking about the game.

A nail-biting twenty minutes of 4 on 4 overtime hockey wasn’t enough to decide the gold medal, even with the US on the power play at the end of it.

The game moved to a shootout, with each team shooting five times or more until the game was decided. The team with the most goals would win gold. After five US shooters and five Canadian shooters, the tally was still tied.

In the second round of the shootout, Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson scored an absolutely filthy triple-deke goal.

Everything came down to 20-year old US goaltender and Olympic rookie Maddie Rooney who made the save against Canadian Meghan Agosta and finally ended the game. The USWNT finally won the gold medal at the Olympics, their first since the 1998 Nagano Olympics.

Seattle: The Sleeping Hockey Fandom

Seattle is a known sports town that is going to embrace NHL hockey when it arrives. There are so many passionate hockey fans here already tweeting about this Olympic gold medal game. It’s going to be a thrill to see that enthusiasm when Seattle is cheering for a team of our own.