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Sochi roundup: Team USA loses a heartbreaker in hockey, Russia's Adelina Sotnikova wins gold in figure skating

mike oz

• The women of Team USA hockey looked as if they were finally going to take the gold medal away from Canada. But then things went really, really wrong for the Americans. With a 2-0 lead and less than four minutes to play, Team USA looked like a sure thing. At 3:26, the Canadians got the board, then scored another with 54.6 seconds to play. That sent the game to overtime, with the U.S. still stinging, because a would-be empty-net goal in the final period bounced off the left post. In OT, Canada completed the comeback as Marie-Philip Poulin scored on the power play for a 3-2 win. Team USA's almost gold-medal ceremony turned into the saddest silver-medal presentation you'll see.

[Photos: Silver sting — faces from Team USA women's hockey]

• Russia got its Olympic hero when 17-year-old Adelina Sotnikova triumphed over the field in figure skating. She posted a score of 224.59 to edge Yuna Kim of Korea, the 2010 gold medalist and favorite for 2014. Kim was No. 1 after Wednesday's short program. Italy's Carolina Kostner finished with a bronze medal, and Team USA's Gracie Gold was off the podium, in fourth place.

• The U.S. won another gold at Rosa Khutor Extreme Park on Thursday, as Maddie Bowman owned women's halfpipe skiing. She's a 20-year-old from Salt Lake City who gave Team USA its sixth gold medal (and 12th overall medal) in the snowboarding and freestyle skiing portion of the Sochi Games. To make things better, you should see Bowman's grandma.

[Photos: Maddie Bowman on and off the slopes]

• Canada's women's curling team claimed gold for the first time in 16 years, beating Sweden 6-3 in the gold medal game. Sweden had been looking for its third straight gold medal in women's curling.

Team USA's Ashley Wagner sounded off on figure skating's anonymous judging system after her seventh-place finish.

"People don't want to watch a sport where you see people fall down and somehow score above someone who goes clean," she said. "It is confusing, and we need to make it clear for you. To be completely honest, this sport needs fans and needs people who want to watch it. People do not want to watch a sport where they see someone skate lights out and they can't depend on that person to be the one who pulls through. People need to be held accountable."

Read Martin Rogers's column for more.

More Ashley Wagner? OK. Since so much has been made during the Sochi Games of Wagner's reactions, here's one more to complete the cycle. This happened before her score was announced, and she was obviously playing it up for the TV cameras. But it's still fun.

[Photos: 45 amazing faces of Ashley Wagner]



• The big event Friday is Team USA versus Canada in the ice hockey semifinals. The winner goes on to the gold medal game. You can be sure there's a lot riding on this one. Sweden and Finland play in the other semifinal game.

• In the women's slalom, all eyes will be on Mikaela Shiffrin, the 18-year-old who is the star of this event for Team USA without Lindsey Vonn in the field.

• The short track will be busy Friday as well, as medals are handed out in the men's 500m, women's 1000m and men's 5000m relay.

• Canada and Great Britain play for gold in men's curling.

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Mike Oz

is an editor for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!