Torturous. Agonizing.
Utterly heartbreaking.
Words cannot describe the feelings of emotion that punched the gut of Canada's world junior hockey representatives as they gave up five unanswered goals in the third period and lost the gold-medal game 5-3 to Russia.
Leading 3-0 with less than 20 minutes to play, Canada suffered the greatest collapse in the 34-year history of the world junior hockey championship Wednesday night in Buffalo -- and all of Canada shared the pain.
For Brett Connolly, the Prince George connection on Team Canada, there was no answer for what happened to his team. Playing with a three-goal lead, the 18-year-old Prince George Cougars captain and local minor hockey product had no reason to doubt the Canadian team was about to send a sellout, pro-Canada crowd of 18,690 and millions of TV viewers coast to coast into a frenzy.
Ryan Ellis, Carter Ashton and tournament MVP Brayden Schenn each scored to chase starting Russian goalie Dmitry Shikin with 6:27 gone in the second period. But the celebration was short-lived.
Artemi Panarin and Maxim Kitsyn scored goals 11 seconds apart in the third minute of the third period and Vladimir Tarasenko tied it with 7:29 gone. Pararin's winning goal at 15:22, a one-timer set up by a perfect pass from Tarasenko. Nikita Dvurechensky put it out of reach late in the game.
Canada's silver-medal finish came on the heels of last-year's overtime loss to the U.S. in the final of the 2009 WJHC.
Connolly had limited playing time as one of seven 18-year-olds on the team. He finished the tournament with three assists, none bigger than his setup of Quinton Howden for the winning goal in a 4-1 semifinal triumph Monday over the U.S.
Connolly will be eligible to play for Canada in the 2012 WJHC, which will be played in Calgary and Edmonton.
