Canada's gold-medal streak in Olympic women's hockey is over, ending with a gut-wrenching shootout loss to the rival Americans at the Pyeongchang Winter Games on Thursday.
Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson scored the shootout winner in a 3-2 victory that ended a 20-year drought for the Americans.
Gigi Marvin and Amanda Kessel also scored in the shootout while goalie Maddie Rooney stopped four of Canada's six attempts, including a clutch save on final shooter Meghan Agosta.
The Americans returned to the top of the podium where they were in 1998 when women's hockey made its Olympic debut.
Canada's women had won four straight gold and beaten the U.S. in the final for three of them.
But the Canadian women were denied the title in Pyeongchang by American women looking to avenge their 3-2 overtime loss four years ago in Sochi, Russia.
Retired Canadian captain Hayley Wickenheiser, who is in India with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, sent a tweet of support with a video attached shortly after the loss.
"Yeah girls, I feel for you," she said. "It's a tough way to lose but keep your chins up and you guys played great. We'll see you in another four years for revenge."
Trudeau said the Canadian women "played amazing."
Hold your heads high @hc_women. @justintrudeau and all of Canada are very proud. Great game. 🇨🇦❤️@TeamCanada pic.twitter.com/82EUcTTX50
— Hayley Wickenheiser (@wick_22) February 22, 2018
"It's a terrible way to lose a game in a shootout, but we're with you, we support you, we send you huge hugs and we're going to keep supporting you all the way to the next Games," Trudeau said.
It was the first Olympic women's hockey final to go to a shootout.
Caught the shootout with @wick_22. @hc_women, you’re the pride of this country and you had a fantastic run. Congratulations & we’ll see you back on top soon.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) February 22, 2018
🇨🇦@hc_Feminin, notre pays est fier de vous et vous avez été fantastiques. Félicitations. Vous allez vous reprendre. https://t.co/7yK2tPziHx
Canada was in penalty trouble in the first period. The Americans scored on their third power-play chance with 25 seconds remaining, when Knight redirected a Decker shot by Szabados.
The U.S. has won seven of the last eight world women's championships and beaten Canada in the final in all of them.
