USA Hockey looked as if it tried to break the unified front of American women, trying to find lower-caliber players to take their spots in the world championship if Plan B became necessary.

“They didn’t want to forgo this opportunity, but they were willing to do it,” Dee Spagnuolo, one of the attorneys who represented the women without a fee, said during the first intermission at USA Hockey Arena. “Every time we huddled up to make tough decisions before and during negotiations, they were united and firm. This team off the ice is so united and in adverse, tense situations in games, it helps them win on the ice, too.”

The U.S. carried the momentum from the win against USA Hockey into the eight-nation tournament by dominating the competition until its rival pushed the Americans into OT.

The Americans were the better team in the end, though, creating lots of scoring chances in the sudden-death period that could have lasted up to 20 minutes. They didn’t need that much time to finish the Canadians off with a second straight OT victory in a world championship gold-medal game.

Knight, who made a no-look, between-the leg pass to set up Bellamy’s second goal, was trailing on a 3-on-2 rush when Coyne dropped a pass to her and she scored from the inside of the left circle. In the 2011 world championship final, Knight also scored the gold-medal winning goal in OT.

“She’s one of the best in the world and she comes up big when you need her and the moment is huge,” Bellamy said. “That’s what’s what make her so special. When everything is on the line, she comes through clutch.”

When Knight lit the goal lamp, the jubilant Americans screamed with joy and hugged in a huge huddle.

“Nothing compares to a gold-medal game against Canada,” Bellamy said. “The emotions are so high. The energy in the building was incredible and it was a really fast-paced game and we had to fight to the end.”

The Canadians, meanwhile, skated in the other direction. They rested their gloves on their knees and stared at the ice in silence as a sold-out crowd at USA Hockey Arena roared.

In the beginning of the tournament, Canada struggled before rallying to face off against the Americans as they’ve done in all 18 world championships. The Canadians opened with a 2-0 loss to the U.S. and a stunning, 4-3 setback against Finland before bouncing back with an 8-0 rout of Russia and a 4-0 win over the Finns in the semifinals.

“We were resilient the whole tournament,” Agosta said.