When ice hockey takes center stage at the Olympics, fans are treated to a spectacle of skill and grit. Whether it’s Sidney Crosby’s golden goal at Vancouver 2010 or the U.S.’s “Miracle on Ice” upset of the Soviet Union in 1980, Olympic hockey games are legendary in their own right. But what happens when a game goes into overtime? Both the NHL and the Olympics use a modified sudden-death, three-on-three overtime format, but there is one big difference: The Olympic version requires five shooters from each team, while the NHL only uses three.
When the men’s teams from Canada and Sweden met for the gold medal in the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, no winner emerged after a scoreless 10-minute period of overtime. So, the game had to be decided by a shootout. Five players from each team took a turn shooting against the opposing goalie, and each time, the goalies traded chances until one side led.
The first shot was taken by Eric Lindros, now of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He skated toward Swedish goalie Tommy Salo and slid the puck into the top corner of the net. But the puck hadn’t crossed the goal line completely, so it was ruled no goal and the shootout continued.
The final shootout was between Mark Johnson and Vladimir Tretiak, two of the greatest goalies in hockey history. After a back-and-forth exchange of shots, Tretiak took his turn. Johnson, the shortest player on the team, gathered himself and skated in on Tretiak, juking him to create space for his shot. The puck slipped into the net to give the United States its first gold medal in 42 years, and a new Olympic legend was born.