It’s going to be all right. It stings in the moment, no doubt about it. There’s no need to go through all the events period by period because we’ve all seen it. It was an all-time battle that just didn’t go our way in the end.

This was a game that Canada dominated. The Americans struck first on a nice goal by Matt Boldy, but from that point on, this game was all Canada. Canada outshot the United States 19-8 in the second period and 41-26 overall, controlled the pace and had countless chances.

But in the end, there were really two stories to this game: all of Canada’s missed chances and Connor Hellebuyck.

This game never should have gone to overtime. In fact, it could have easily been 5-1 or more. Connor McDavid and Macklin Celebrini both couldn’t convert on breakaways, Devon Toews had a loose puck in an open crease that was saved, and Nathan MacKinnon had the entire net open but shot it into the side of the goal. Not to mention the other scoring chances or the times the Canadians had the Americans hemmed into their own zone. We were all screaming at our TVs to just convert on one of these opportunities, but it just wasn’t meant to be.

Connor Hellebuyck has always had that cloud over his head about not being able to come through when it mattered most. This was the game of his life. He made 40 saves overall, with probably more than half coming off grade-A chances. He was a brick wall and was the Americans’ best player by far. If anyone on that team deserved the gold medal for today’s performance, it was him.

There are no excuses for Team Canada in this one. They had it. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for some subtle complaints. Like, how do you not call that too-many-men penalty late in the third period? In a way, it set up that double-minor penalty Sam Bennett took. Luckily, it caused no harm and the Americans took a penalty of their own to kill some of the time, but there is room left to think “what if” Canada had a full power play late in the period.

Obviously, 3-on-3 overtime also isn’t the best way for a game like this to end. It didn’t matter who won as it was guaranteed the other side was going to complain about it. We all want to see a game like this be settled the way it started: 5-on-5. Again, it’s no excuse for anything. Jordan Binnington had a massive save to keep it going, but the bounces didn’t go our way and Jack Hughes made a nice shot to win it.

Other than congratulations, if there is anything else nice to say about the Americans, it was that the Johnny Gaudreau inclusion was a really nice touch. Johnny would have been on that team if he were still with us. Even among any animosity for the American team, Calgarians would have still found it in themselves to root Gaudreau on a little bit because of what he meant to this city.

At the end of the day, hockey is still Canada’s game. We have the best players and the most passion for this sport. Canada was the better team today by a country kilometre. Everyone on that team should hold their heads high and be proud of the tournament they put together. They all deserved a better result, but that’s just the way it goes sometimes. 2030 can’t come soon enough. It’s going to be a Canadian revenge tour for both the men’s and women’s hockey teams as they look to help us claim back what’s rightfully ours.

For Calgary Flames fans specifically, there is one good thing to come out of today: we can all stop cheering for Connor McDavid again — at least for a few years.

Thank you for following along throughout these Olympic Games. There was a lot of fun and exciting hockey played. If there’s any debate about whether NHL players should be participating, this should have settled it. What a great tournament.

Now back to watching Calgary Flames hockey … oh boy.

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