How it unfolded
A rematch after the U.S. beat Canada 5–3 in the round robin. Jonathan Toews and Corey Perry put Canada up 2–0; Ryan Kesler halved the deficit. With 24.4 seconds left, the U.S. pulled Ryan Miller for an extra attacker and Zach Parise tied it from a scramble at the crease — the home crowd froze. At 7:40 of four-on-four overtime, Sidney Crosby fed Jarome Iginla on the left boards, shouted "Iginla!" as he drove the net, and buried Iginla's return pass through Miller's legs. Roberto Luongo guarded Canada's goal. The host nation set a Winter Olympic record with 14 gold medals; the women's team beat the same opponent for gold. Roughly 26.5 million Canadians — about 80% of the population — watched some part of the game; about 27.6 million did in the U.S.
Why it still matters
The "Golden Goal" on home ice, in the tournament's last event, ranks behind only Henderson 1972 in Canadian sports memory. In the U.S. it drew the largest hockey audience since 1980 and became the strongest argument the NHL could cite for sending players to the Olympics.