The reason everyone yearned for a best-on-best Olympic Games was on full display in Milan-Cortina.
Team Canada survived Team Czechia in overtime, in what became the game of the Olympics from start to finish.
New York Islanders' forward Bo Horvat did not record a point, but played a key role for Canada. With under three minutes to go, and the game tied at three, Canadian Head Coach Jon Cooper opted to throw Horvat over the boards for a defensive-zone face off late in the game.
Then, in the final minute, Cooper again trusted Horvat to see things out to overtime, where Canada would be heavily favored in a 3-on-3 environment.
Vegas Golden Knights forward Mitch Marner scored the game-winning goal with an unbelievable backhand, but the story was almost very different.
Czechia's Ondrej Palat, the Islanders' other player in the Olympics, scored what could've been a game-winning goal with 7:42 to go.
The moment turned out to be painfully fleeting for Czechia. With 3:27 to go, Nick Suzuki deflected home a shot from the blue line to tie the game for the Canadians.
It's a broken heart for Palat and Czechia, while Horvat and Canada will be over the moon.
The semifinals take place on Friday, where Canada will play either Sweden if they upset the United States, or the winner of Switzerland vs Finland (SUI leads 2-0 late in the second period).