Crosby Goal Adds to Canadian Hockey History

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Sidney Crosby has been touted by Wayne Gretzky as the player who may surpass his National Hockey League scoring records.

For now, he'll have to settle for joining Gretzky and Mario Lemieux among Canada's hockey heroes. Crosby capped the Winter Games in Vancouver by scoring the winning goal in overtime to beat the United States and secure the Olympic gold medal that matters most to his nation.

"I dreamed of this moment," the 22-year-old Crosby said after the final game Sunday. "To win a gold medal and to score the winner in overtime, it doesn't get much better than that."

Crosby's goal for the gold medal was an appropriate way for the Games to end in a country obsessed with hockey, Canada goalie Roberto Luongo said.

"It's just fitting that Sid would get it," Luongo said. "I couldn't think of somebody better to put that one in for us."

The U.S. tied the game with 24 seconds remaining in regulation time on a goal by Zach Parise. Crosby's goal through the legs of goalie Ryan Miller 7:40 into the extra period came 13 years after Lemieux scored off a pass from Gretzky to lift Canada over the Soviet Union in the 1987 Canada Cup. Fifteen years earlier, Paul Henderson's winning goal in the 1972 Summit Series with the Soviets became Canada's signature hockey memory.

Now Crosby has his own defining moment.

After the goal, Crosby threw his stick and gloves into the air and was mobbed by teammates as the sellout crowd of 17,748 cheered. Miller fell to his knees and put his head on the ice as Canadian players stormed past him at the Canada Hockey Place arena in Vancouver.

"I just threw it at the net," Crosby said. "I didn't aim it. I just shot it. I didn't see it go in. I just heard everybody screaming."

Crosby, who is tied with Russia's Alex Ovechkin this season with an NHL-best 42 goals, had been scoreless in his previous two games after three goals in the first four games. He saved his best for last, teammate Drew Doughty said.

"Crosby is one of the best players in the world and the best players come up big in big situations," Doughty told reporters. "I had a feeling it was going to be him."

Canada features the image of a "pond hockey" game on its five-dollar bill. The game is part of the fabric of the nation, Canadian coach Mike Babcock said.

"It's just an unbelievable feeling," Babcock said. "I can't even describe having the city of Vancouver and the country behind us."

And Crosby's goal is the ultimate end to the Winter Games.

"You couldn't ask for a better ending," said Jamie Nabholz, 27, a shirtless fan who painted his upper body in Canada's red and white colors for the game. "Crosby took a lot of criticism during the tournament and he won it for us. This ties it all up in a nice bow for us and caps it off perfectly."