Four Seconds

'PERFECT POSITION'

All the skaters – Canadians Sidney Crosby and Jarome Iginla and U.S. defencemen Brian Rafalski (nearest to Crosby) and Ryan Suter, are in perfect position, as is referee Bill McCreary. On soft, chewed-up ice, Crosby loses the puck near McCreary's feet as he carries it up the boards.

RON WILSON: U.S. head coach: "The puck hits the referee's skate – no one's mentioned that – and that ended up causing kind of a kerfuffle that happened in the corner and they took advantage of it."

BILL McCREARY: Referee: "If (the puck) did (hit me), I certainly didn't feel it. If it did, it certainly wasn't in favour of any team."

KELLY HRUDEY: CBC commentator, former goalie: "This is where Crosby first loses the puck in Bill McCreary's feet, but everybody's in perfect position. Rafalski's in great position, Suter's in great position with Iginla below the goalline, (Jamie) Langenbrunner is taking the point away at the top and (Zach) Parise's just sort of waiting in the weeds, waiting maybe for Crosby to make that pass (across to Drew Doughty and intercept it) and who knows? Maybe that's a break for the Americans at that point."

SLAMMING ON THE BRAKES

Crosby stops so suddenly with his left skate that a large cloud of icy snow is visible as he moves to regain the puck. Rafalski, standing back a stride, commits and jumps toward the boards and the puck. But Crosby gets there first with his right hand, pushing it along the boards toward Iginla. McCreary leaps out of the way and the puck reaches Iginla, who is covered by Suter. At this point, Parise is moving to cover a possible pass back to Canadian defenceman Drew Doughty.

RYAN SUTER: U.S. defenceman: "I saw the puck ... it was a 2-on-2 going up the wall."

MIKE BABCOCK: Canadian head coach."Sid's coming up the wall, the puck bumps into the referee's skate and that allows him to tap it back to Iggy and in turn, beat Rafalski off the wall. Because of that momentum going up the wall and (the puck) hitting the referee's skate, it got (Crosby, a left-handed shot) on the wrong side and in the end, it's those little things that make a difference. So that's how Sid got home free."

'STUCK ON THE WALL'

Rafalski starts turning his head to look for the puck while Crosby is already powerfully pushing off his left foot, jumping toward the net and gaining a step on the U.S. defenceman. Parise (9) senses Crosby's next move and turns toward his vulnerable goal.

PARISE: "I was trying to get back in and help. I saw Raffy stuck on the wall. So I was trying to get back and help out the (defence)."

BRIAN BURKE: GM of the U.S. team: "We saw Sidney coming off the boards and he got body position on our D."

'IGGY!'

"Iggy!" – the urgent yell can be heard above the din of the crowd, even on video. Crosby looks back for the pass from Iginla and receives it on his forehand as Suter pushes Iginla to the ice from behind.

IGINLA: "When he fed the puck back down the wall to me I heard him yell and I thought, 'My god, he's beat his guy' and I had to get the puck to him quickly. It was a give-and-go type of play and I kind of bobbled it but I did see that he got the pass as I was falling to the ice."

SUTER: "The puck squirted out right on (Crosby's) stick. You don't think about them scoring. You think about getting the puck after they turn it over and going the other way."

McCREARY: "I just heard a voice hollering. They holler at each other – drop it here, push it there – you hear the players talking and the communication between them is just incredible. I heard somebody hollering – obviously it was Crosby – and Iginla's battling with Suter, the defenceman, and (Iginla) gained position on him to make a pass. Then the check was finished on Iginla and he was knocked down. So I trailed the puck carrier, who was Crosby, to the net."

'HE MADE A GREAT READ'

Parise (9) rushes back to help with Crosby coming in alone on his goalie. Miller changes the grip on his stick to poke check, anticipating a deke. Crosby, his head initially down but his peripheral vision perhaps noticing Miller's adjustment, takes super quick shot instead.

CROSBY: "I just shot it."

MILLER: "He didn't even pick his head up. He knew where he wanted to go with it. He caught the pass on his forehand, turning his body. I thought I had time to step out and maybe take some space away – I'd been aggressive the whole tournament (and) I wasn't going to lose by sitting back in my net."

PARISE: "I couldn't get back there in time before he was alone, just him and Miller, in front of the net."

BURKE: "I thought Sidney was going to carry the puck in front of the net and (Miller) thought I'm going to poke it off his stick. The second Sidney saw Miller start to change his grip (on his stick) he made a great read. He released (the puck) in a heartbeat and the goaltender had no chance to react to it."

'IF HE SHOOTS, HE SCORES'

Crosby raises his arms in air, celebrating the goal, a split-second before anyone else knows that game is over and that Canada has won the gold.

CROSBY: "I think it went five-hole. I didn't even see it. I barely looked at the net, I just threw it there."

MILLER: "I was ... reading the play and I stepped out and just got beat. If he stickhandles once, I have him. If he shoots, he scores."

IGINLA: "I never saw him shoot or the puck go in. As I was getting up, I saw him with his arms in the air and I heard the roar of the crowd."

BURKE: "When it happens in real time, I don't know if the average person realizes just how crushing and sudden it is when you lose. We saw Sidney coming off the boards, he had body position on our D and then, when we saw him score, it was just like 'Oh ... (Burke trails off)."

LINDY RUFF: Canadian assistant coach: "When I saw a pair of gloves go up, I knew he had scored."

PARISE: "It was one of the worst feelings I've ever had."