USA 3, RUS 2 (SO): Team USA outlasts Russia in epic shootout

The much hyped Group A contest between two hockey heavyweights in the United States of America and the host Russians lived up to its billing and then some on Saturday. This was a game that hockey fans will discuss for years to come. 

And why not? It had a little bit of everything. 

It had a near heroic performance from Russian captain Pavel Datsyuk, who is currently hobbled by a lower-body injury, but played through discomfort and scored twice.

It had some truly excellent goaltending from both Jonathan Quick and Sergei Bobrovsky, both of whom flashed dramatic puck-stopping ability at key moments in the contest.

There were two explosive power-play units that threatened throughout man-advantage opportunities and cashed in several key goals. 

Of course there was also some controversy in the form of a disallowed go-ahead goal scored by Russian defender Fedor Tyutin with under five minutes to play in the second period. The officials ruled that the net had been knocked off of its moorings. By NHL rules: it was a good goal, and one that probably would've given the Russian side a regulation victory.

The Dog House

Now that teams have played several games at the Olympic men's ice hockey tournament, some players have stepped up and are playing a bigger role for their respective teams than anticipated. Other players, however, are playing themselves out of the lineup.

One such player is Blake Wheeler, who received only one shift from Team USA head coach Dan Bylsma on Saturday. That penalty ended when Wheeler took a minor penalty, and the Winnipeg Jets winger wasn't heard from again:

On the Russian side, Alexander Radulov has found himself firmly in the dog-house following a two minor penalty performance. Radulov was in the penalty box for both American goals and is likely to be scratched on Sunday when Russia faces Slovakia.

Meat Wagon Hockey

The Russian power-play features three of the hardest shooters in the game in Alexander Ovechkin, Ilya Kovalchuk and Evgeni Malkin, and American penalty-killers put themselves in harms way repeatedly while killing off four of five Russian power-play opportunities. 

American forward Ryan Kesler, who briefly left the game after blocking an Ilya Kovalchuk shot at point blank range, and defenseman Ryan McDonagh took the brunt of the abuse.

The Disallowed Goal

The Russian side was this close to securing a regulation win on Saturday:

That's a goal in the National Hockey League, but not in international competition:

Russian players - even Jonathan Quick's teammates were crying foul after the game:

Russian coaches were more diplomatic and chose to blame the officials instead:

T.J. Oshie vs. The World

T.J. Oshie scored four times in six shootout attempts on Saturday, out-duelling Pavel Datsyuk and Ilya Kovalchuk in the skills competition and securing an additional point for the Americans. 

It was a legend-making performance in a riveting shootout.

It didn't take long for Oshie to earn "hero" status on-line:

Oshie even admitted that he was relieved when it ended because, hard as it might be to believe, he was "running out of moves."