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Canadian team poses for photographers after receiving their gold medals during the victory ceremony for women’s ice hockey at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Thursday. (UPI-Yonhap) |
SOCHI, Russia (AP) ― The puck skittered the length of the ice on its way toward the empty Canadian net before clanging off the post and stopping in front of the crease.
It was ― for a few more seconds, at least ― still a one-goal game.
Then Marie-Philip Poulin scored with 54.6 seconds left in regulation, completing Canada‘s comeback from a two-goal deficit and sending the game into overtime.
Once there, she added the gold medal-winning goal to beat the United States 3-2 ― the fourth consecutive Olympic women’s hockey title for the sport’s birthplace.
“I think it always gets better, for sure,” Poulin, who also scored twice in the Vancouver final four years ago, said Thursday night with her second gold medal draped around her neck. “It’s so hard to get here and to bring it back (home) is amazing.”
Shannon Szabados made 27 saves for Canada, which has won 20 straight Olympic games since the Nagano final in 1998. That was the only gold medal for the United States, which lost in the Olympic final to Canada in all three tries since then and earned a bronze in 2006.
