Heartbreak on ice

SOCHI, Russia - A two-goal lead blown in the final four minutes. A long shot that clanged off the post of an empty net. Two perplexing penalties in overtime, setting up a golden goal for Canada.

The U.S. women’s hockey team has lost late in the past four Olympics, but never in such preposterously heartbreaking fashion as its 3-2 defeat Thursday night at the Winter Games.

The Canadians won their fourth consecutive gold medal, and the Americans were left blank-faced or crying at Bolshoy Ice Dome. Sixteen years after the first generation of U.S. players won the inaugural Olympic tournament, the Americans thought Canada’s Olympic mastery over them had finally waned.

Instead, they have four more years to think about how the Canadians managed to seize their sport’s biggest moment while the U.S. team is left holding silver.

“To let them come back in the gold-medal game at the Olympics is the worst feeling in the world,” said Kelli Stack,who nearly became an improbable hero with a long clearing attempt that hit the right post of an empty net late in regulation.

Stack said she actually knew she hadn’t scored when she flipped the puck down the ice in the waning seconds. From her vantage point, she could tell it was going to hit the post even before that clunk of rubber against metal.

“If it would have been an inch to the right, it would have went in and we would have won the gold medal,” said Stack, shaking her head.

Everything seemed dramatically different in the first 56 minutes. The U.S. led 2-0, and its fans were bouncing in their seats as U.S. goalie Jessie Vetter appeared capable of shutting out Canada for the first time in Olympic competition.

“I just kept thinking ‘We’re going to win,’ ” U.S. captain Meghan Duggan said. “I looked over at one of our goaltenders, I said, ‘There’s no way they’re going to score two goals on Vetts. She’s hot right now.’ ”

Duggan called what happened next “crazy mode” - those frantic final minutes of a hockey game when the goalie skates to the bench and her teammates try anything to will the puck into the net.

Canada’s Brianne Jenner scored with 3:26 to play, banking a wide-flying shot off Kacey Bellamy’s knee.

“Bad puck luck,” Bellamy said.

Canada’s tying goal was another bad break. Vetter attempted a poke-check after the puck came out from behind the net, but it somehow went straight to Marie-Philip Poulin, Canada’s soft-spoken Quebecois hero.

Even during the break before overtime, the Americans remained confident. Stack recalled only encouragement in the dressing room at a time when the Americans had expected to be celebrating.

Then, in overtime, the whistles started.

Neither team could understand the referees’ eagerness to call penalties in an Olympic overtime, which is already 4-on-4 hockey. Just 6 seconds after Canada’s Catherine Ward was sent off for a big hit near the net, Jocelyne Lamoureux of the U.S. was penalized for slashing on a single whack at Shannon Szabados’ pads with the puck underneath them.

Moments later during 3-on-3 play, a bad U.S. line change gave a breakaway to Canada’s Hayley Wickenheiser. Hilary Knight swooped in from behind, and Wickenheiser tumbled to the ice.

The officials called Knight for cross-checking instead of awarding a penalty shot or allowing play to continue. Replays showed no significant contact between the two, except perhaps Knight’s right skate clipping Wickenheiser’s right skate from behind, which isn’t cross-checking.

Poulin ended it 39 seconds later.