Ciao to an up-and-down Olympics for Canada

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Well, that was not quite the Olympics we hoped for. And definitely not the ending we dreamed of.

After 2½ weeks of triumphs and tears for Canada at the Milano-Cortina Games, the men's hockey team did everything in their power to deliver the victory that mattered most to their country. But, despite Canada's NHL stars outplaying the United States' for most of another classic Olympic final between the rival nations, American Jack Hughes scored the golden goal in 3-on-3 overtime to give the U.S. a thrilling 2-1 win and its first Olympic men's hockey title since 1980.

As it happens, today is the 46th anniversary of the United States' Miracle On Ice upset of the Soviet Union in Lake Placid. And it was borderline miraculous that the Americans won this game.

Even without injured captain Sidney Crosby, Canada outshot the U.S. 42-28 and had several golden opportunities to pot the go-ahead goal in the third period after American Matt Boldy opened the scoring in the first and Cale Makar tied it midway through the second. But U.S. goalie Connor Hellebuyck absolutely robbed Devon Toews in front of a wide-open net with a desperate paddle save and, later, Canadian star Nathan MacKinnon inexplicably missed another yawning cage from point-blank range.

In OT, Hughes — his front teeth shattered from a high stick by Sam Bennett that drew a four-minute penalty in the third — made the play of his life. The 24-year-old forward poked the puck past a pinching Makar to create an odd-man situation, found open space in the slot and converted a feed from Zach Werenski to become the modern-day Mike