It took overtime, but Megan Keller’s overtime goal proved to be golden as Team USA took down Canada, 2-1, in the women’s gold medal game at the Olympics. Unlike the 5-0 blowout in the preliminary rounds, the two hockey powerhouses battled all game long with Canada taking the early lead on a Kristin O’Neill short-handed goal. Hilary Knight, playing in her final Olympic game, dialed up the heroics as she scored with just over two minutes to go in the game and the American net empty.
That set up Keller’s overtime goal as she toe-dragged the puck through Claire Thompson and then snuck a shot past Canadian goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens.
MEGAN KELLER WITH A DIRTY DRAG MOVE AND A GOLD MEDAL WINNING GOAL 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero.bsky.social) February 19, 2026 at 3:59 PM
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That toe-drag was absolutely filthy. So was the Americans’ dominance in the tournament. They outscored their opponents 33-2 on their way to posting a 7-0 record. Ten players on the team recorded at least five points and they had a 352:21 shutout streak. Not too shabby.
On the Men’s side of the tournament, the semi-finals get underway:
Finland vs. Canada – 10:40 AM
Slovakia vs. United States – 3:10 PM
Other Hockey News
Sweden’s biggest regret after losing? Victor Hedman sitting out [The Athletic]
Victor Hedman is revered in the Lightning clubhouse and it appears that respect carries over to his international teammates:
“To have to sit out, that’s, that’s … I was hurting for him. I really was. And I still am. I know how long he’d been working towards this and looking forward toward this, that sucks.” – Gabriel Landeskog
“It also speaks to his character to be able to make that decision on his own. That he couldn’t perform at the level that he felt that he needed to, to be an improvement on our team. A really tough one. It sucks that we couldn’t do more to give him a chance to play another game.” – Erik Karlsson
Lightning’s Anthony Cirelli steadily battles back from injury [Tampa Bay Times]
The Lightning center confirmed it was a shoulder injury that he suffered in the Stadium Series game, but is hopeful that he will be ready to return when the Lightning battle the Maple Leafs next week. It seems like he is on track in regards to stick-handling and shooting, but he’s yet to test it physically in regards to contact. Expect that to change as the Lightning ramp their practices back up over the next few days.
Ryan Hamilton helped Team Canada establish team culture at Winter Olympics [Tampa Bay Lightning]
A really nice look at what a mental performance coach does for a hockey team. He’s not an X’s and O’s guy, but making sure a team comprised of superstars is mentally prepared for the task at hand is just as important as designing a power play or breakout scheme.
Lightning Block Party: Nick Paul [YouTube]
Nick Paul does it all, including podcasts. He joins the guys to chitchat about hockey (what else would he talk about?)
Sidney Crosby not ruled out for semifinal game according to Jon Cooper [Pensburgh]
Look, we all know Coach Cooper and his propensity to bend facts in regards to injuries and timelines. He was a lawyer at one point, so take all of his words with the proper grains of salt. That being said, if Sidney Crosby wants to play, who is going to tell him no?
Crunch run winning streak to six games with 2-1 victory over Belleville [Syracuse Crunch]
Mitchell Chaffee and Dylan Duke had the goals while Brandon Halverson stopped 21-of-22 shots to pick up the victory. Chaffee has scored in five straight games while Conor Geekie is riding an eight-game point streak. Despite their run, they still trail Laval, who is on a 7-0-0-1 streak, by five points.
