Jack Hughes scored the overtime goal that gave the Americans their first Olympic men's hockey gold medal in 46 years. The last time the Americans needed a miracle to beat the Soviets on their way to a gold. This time, according to the Hughes, they needed to appreciate the power of the "brotherhood" they had formed.
"This is all about our country right now. I love the U.S.A. I love my teammates, it’s unbelievable," Hughes told NBC. "The USA Hockey brotherhood, it’s so strong. We had so much support from ex-players, and I’m so proud to be American today."
Since NHL players began playing in the Olympics in 1998, the Americans and Canadians had met twice in the gold medal game before Sunday. They met in 2002 at Salt Lake City and the Canadians won 5-2 and they met again in Vancouver in 2010 and Canada won 3-2 in overtime on Sidney Crosby's goal.
The Canadians, playing without injured captain Sidney Crosby, dominated the puck possession in the second and third period in Sunday's game. They put up 31 of their 42 shots in those periods forcing the Americans to use their survival skills and the brilliance of Carter Hellebuyck's goaltending. His 41 saves in the game included breakaway stops against Connor McDavid and Macklin Celebrini.
The Winnipeg Jets goaltender also used the shaft of his stick to make a goalmouth stop against Canada defenseman Devon Toews. That one will be talked about for years to come.
"Hellebuyck was insane," U.S. defenseman Quinn Hughes said. "You saw the looks they had. Canada's an insane team out there."
Canada defenseman Cale Makar's goal with under two minutes to go in the second period tied the score. At that point, many watching the game would have bet Canada' go-ahead goal was inevitable. That's how robust the Canadians offense looked.
At one point, Brad Tkachuk, wearing a microphone for NBC, was heard on air telling teammates they needed to stay "confident." What confidence the Americans had, was primarily supplied by Hellebuyck.
The Americans killed off a 5-on-3 power play for 1:32 in the second period. Fortunately for the Americans, they were perfect on penalty killing during the tournament.
The Americans were looking, or maybe hoping, that an American player would slip through a seam in Canada's defense for a breakaway. But no breakaway came. NBC analyst Ed Olczyk, a 1984 Olympian, said the Americans may have been looking to get the game to overtime to use the break between periods to regroup.
Everyone on both teams understood that the three-on-three format basically comes down to the ability of a team to take advantage of the other's team mistake. That's inevitable in three-on-three because it's difficult to play one-on-one defense on skates. Jack Hughes lost his coverage and delivered the game-winner.
In final analysis, Hellebucyk's performance will go down as one of the greatest goaltending performances in American hockey history. It was Jack McCartan (1960)-worthy or Jimmy Craig (1980) worthy. Like Craig did in 1980, Hellebuyck wrapped himself in an American flag after the game.
The American players took the brotherhood theme to heart, carrying the late Johnny Gaudreau's jersey around the ice after the win. Gaudreau and his brother were tragically killed last year when they were hit by a truck while bicycling. Gaudreau was a top candidate for this U.S. team. The Americans dedicated their effort to Johnny Hockey.
In preparation for the team photo, Zach Werenski and Dylan Larkin went into the stands to collect Johnny Gaudreau's children to appear in the team photo. The American players believe the American brotherhood is a binding obligation.
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