Petr David Josek/Associated Press
Day 13 of the 2014 Winter Olympics brought some high-stakes drama to fans that led to some lively discussions on Twitter.
In the United States and Canada, all the talk was about the gold-medal game that featured arguably the greatest finish of any Olympic hockey game in women's history. Ultimately, Team Canada pulled off a stunning comeback after facing a two-goal deficit to win 3-2 in overtime, including game-tying and game-winning efforts from Marie-Philip Poulin.
It's still our game #Canada. http://ift.tt/1nSd4Ay Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) February 20, 2014
But there was plenty of late drama before Poulin punched through the golden goal about eight minutes into overtime.
The United States held a 2-0 lead early in the third period after Alex Carpenter scored a power- play goal to put the Americans in a great position to win their first gold since the 1998 Olympics. USA women's soccer star Julie Foudy was rooting on the Americans via Twitter.
But Canada wouldn't quit.
With two goals in the final three minutes, 26 seconds, including the equalizer from Poulin with 55 seconds left in regulation, Canada forced overtime. Harrison Mooney of Yahoo! Sports shared this great photo of Poulin's reaction.
But the United States certainly had a shot to close out the deal in the third period and avoid extra time. In fact, the women were just inches away from making it 3-1 at one point, but a long shot on an open net bounced off the goal post, much to the chagrin of Deadspin's Drew Magary, a proud American.
DAMN YOU, POST- Drew Magary (@drewmagary) February 20, 2014
That all set the stage for a dramatic overtime period, when there were three quick penalties that led to a 4-on-3 for Canada, when Poulin finally knocked through the winning goal.
Chris Fowler of ESPN noted it was a stunning fall from grace for the U.S. women, as the Canadian women won their fourth straight Olympic gold medal.
Ouch. Painful Silver for US women's hockey. Collapse from 2-0 up in final minutes. After hitting post with empty net, had a feeling..- Chris Fowler (@cbfowler) February 20, 2014
Even though it wasn't the desired result for the United States, it still gives Team USA 25 total medals for the Winter Games in Sochi, the most of any country after Day 13. Here's a look at the updated medal count leaderboard.
Looking ahead to the United States-Canada men's semifinal game tomorrow, Colorado Rockies pitcher and active Twitter user Brett Anderson is demanding victory.
Don't want...need a USA men's hockey 'W' tomorrow, now.- Brett Anderson (@BAnderson_30) February 20, 2014
Meanwhile, actor Rainn Wilson didn't seem to mind that Team USA just took home the silver.
But worldwide, women's hockey wasn't the biggest Winter Olympics discussion taking place over social media, as the results from the women's figure skating will be talked about for years to come.
With a score of 149.95 in Thursday's free skate program, 17-year-old Russian Adelina Sotnikova turned in a career-best performance and brought her two-day total to 224.59. Joe Fleming of USA Today shared a photo of Sotnikova's reaction to her routine.
The crowd loved Adelina Sotnikova of Russia, and so did the judges (@USATsportsImage) http://ift.tt/1bQIMyx Joe Fleming (@ByJoeFleming) February 20, 2014
Sotnikova's high score immediately stirred up reaction, as some like Christine Brennan of USA Today raised questions about her impressive mark in front of her home fans. Earlier in the competition, Italy's Carolina Kostner put together a solid routine to earn a 142.61 and bring her total to 216.73.
There is no way Sotnikova should be ahead of Kostner, but she is. This is ridiculous.- Christine Brennan (@cbrennansports) February 20, 2014
The high score put a lot of pressure on defending champion Yuna Kim, who needed a 149.68 to win, something certainly within her range. As the 24th and final competitor, Kim had to wait for two skaters after Sotnikova before taking the ice.
Even though she didn't have any glaring weaknesses, Kim's score of 144.19 was almost six points lower than Sotnikova, who made an unexpected run to the top of the podium to dethrone 'The Queen' of women's figure skating in Kim.
Peter Schrager of Fox Sports relayed the Russian crowd's reaction to their new Olympic champion.
But the decision didn't sit well with many observers, including NBC's Alex Goldberger.
Adelina Sotnikova was excellent tonight, but Yuna Kim was robbed- Alex Goldberger (@alexgoldberger) February 20, 2014
Given that Sotnikova was performing in front of her home fans in the arena, the atmosphere was certainly ramped up to another level when she took the ice. So did the judges get caught up in the heat of the moment?
For years to come, the judging will be looked back on with doubt, as noted by Ollie Williams of BBC.
After the disputed finish, Kim told reporters it marked her final competition, per Nick McCarvel of NBC Sports.
#Yuna Kim (@Yunaaaa) confirms that she is retiring after the #Olympics. She will not compete at Worlds in March #Sochi2014- Nick McCarvel (@NickMcCarvel) February 20, 2014
While those two stories dominated the headlines and conversations on Twitter, there were still other gold-medal competitions taking place.
In a closely contested nordic combined team race, Team Norway edged out Team Germany in a photo finish while Austria wasn't far behind. Douglas Gelevan of CBC shared an image of the finish line.
Norway wins gold in a classic finish! Germany 2, Austria 3 #TeamNordic @CBCOlympics http://ift.tt/1nSd4AA Douglas Gelevan (@DGelevan) February 20, 2014
In women's curling, Canada avenged their 2010 gold-medal match loss to Sweden with a 6-3 victory.
There were also a couple of medal ceremonies on the slopes Thursday, as France completed a podium sweep in the men's ski cross, per Jason Stahl of NBC Olympics.
France sweeps men's #skicross. Gold: Chapuis Silver: Bovolenta Bronze: Midol. @Lemanracing wipes out.- Jason Stahl (@stahl_jason) February 20, 2014
Rounding out the competitions was the women's ski halfpipe final, where American Maddie Bowman claimed the gold, marking the eighth first-place finish for the United States.
She better get ready to pay her dues to Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert, who demanded his share of all American winnings in Sochi.
Congratulations to Team USA for all the gold medals! Remember: You represent all Americans, so 1/315 millionth of that gold is mine. Pay up!- Stephen Colbert (@StephenAtHome) February 20, 2014
Ultimately, though, this day will be remembered as the one when Sotnikova controversially outscored Kim and the United States had an epic collapse within a few hours of each other. Mark Purdy of the Bay Area News Group offered his thoughts on the two biggest events of the day.
Dunno who has worst beef with officials tonite--Kim the figure skater or USA hockey women. Probably Kim. At least USA women had lead.- Mark Purdy (@MercPurdy) February 20, 2014
There should be plenty more lively discussion to be had on Twitter on Friday, as USA and Canada face off in the much-anticipated men's hockey semifinal.
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