An Olympic Final Worthy of a Rivalry

Less than two minutes into overtime of the men’s gold-medal hockey game at the Milano Cortina Olympics, between the U.S.A. and Canada, the American Jack Hughes—a fresh gap in his teeth, his mouth still bloody from a high stick in the third period—lunged and poked the puck around a Canadian defender. The ice, which had seemed crowded with players colliding at incredible speeds during regulation, suddenly opened up—Olympic hockey uses a three-on-three format during overtime instead of the ordinary five-on-five. The Canadian Nathan MacKinnon had an angle on the puck, but there was an air of caution about him as he skated toward it. Perhaps fatigue was setting in. MacKinnon had been all over the rink all game, which was as fast, and as physical, and as highly skilled, surely, as any hockey competition in history. He’d had his own chances to score; halfway through the third period, he’d even missed an open net. So it had gone for Canada all day. Perhaps MacKinnon was haunted, seeing ghosts. Or perhaps it was the sight of three real, live Americans streaking into the attacking zone.