Team USA Women's Hockey Team Takes Gold With Jaw-Dropping Overtime Win Over Canada
The Americans defeated their Canadian arch rivals in an OT thriller for the ages
When it comes to women's hockey on the international stage, there are really only two powerhouses: Team USA and Team Canada.
For the most part, everyone else shows up thinking there's a good chance they'll be playing for the bronze medal.
The rivalry has become one of the best in all of hockey, bringing the most intense play out of both teams, and we got the latest installment on Thursday in Milan as Team USA looked to win Olympic gold.
READ: USA VS. SWEDEN SET FOR OLYMPIC HOCKEY SEMIFINALS IN MILAN
The two teams met in the group stage, with the Americans waxing the floor with the Canadians and winning 5-0. In fact, coming into the gold medal game, the Americans had won the last seven meetings, dating back to last year's World Championships.
The US also entered the game on a jaw-dropping 331-minute shutout streak, which is an Olympic record for both men and women.
And let me tell you, the stars were out for this one (and so was Seth Meyers)!
In the first period, the story was special teams. The US made some unforced errors — too many men (women?) bench minor and an unnecessary tripping penalty in the offensive zone that had to make the coaching staff squirm — and had to face the Canadians' tournament-leading power play.
Luckily for the US, they were 11/11 on the PK coming into the game and killed off both and even generated some shorthanded scoring chances.
The Canadians took a penalty of their own late in the first, setting up a truncated US power play to start the second frame.
But you may not have realized it, because 56 seconds into the period, Canada opened the scoring with a short-handed goal from Kristin O'Neill, ending the shutout streak at over 352 minutes.
O'Neill, who plays for the PWHL's New York Sirens, led the NCAA in shorthanded goals twice when she played at Cornell University.
Team USA netminder Aerin Frankel came up big on a few occasions to make sure that the Canadians couldn't extend their lead.
The US noticeably ramped up the intensity in the third period, with the game getting more physical as the minutes ticked away.
A late penalty kill with about six and a half minutes left in regulation didn't help the US cause.
But, after killing the penalty, the Americans pulled the goalie with just over two minutes left, and tied the game thanks to a record-breaking goal from the captain, Hilary Knight.
That made her the all-time goal and point-scoring leader for the Olympics.
That sent this one to overtime — the fifth-straight game across the men's and women's tournaments to do so — which left it up to Skip Bayless' favorite 3-on-3 overtime format to decide the winner.
After a back-and-forth period with teams trading chances, the Americans gathered the puck, got it to Megan Keller, and she pulled off an incredible move to bury what will go down as one of the greatest goals in American Olympic history.
Scenes. Absolute scenes.
What a move to even get that puck to the net. Add Megan Keller to the hands team!
Canada played a hell of a game, especially with the Americans coming in as heavy favorites.
We're really lucky that we got to see the two teams that are, without question, the best in the world battle it out for gold.
With the Americans and Canadians finishing with gold and silver, Switzerland rounded out the podium with a bronze after beating Sweden in another OT thriller.
With the US ladies winning their third-ever gold, let's hope the men can do the same.
And with that, I say: USA! USA! USA!