"Megan Keller was a 21-year-old next-big-thing-on-defense when she won her first Olympic gold medal, in Pyeongchang, the winter before her senior year of college. She was also very nearly the reason her team lost it. The refs whistled her for an illegal hit on Canadian captain Marie-Philip Poulin late in overtime, and her teammates spent 95 chilling seconds on the penalty kill atoning for her sins."
"Incredibly, the same sequence transpired at the women's world championships the following year, in a nervy ( and scandalous) gold-medal game between the U.S. and Finland. Keller took a slashing penalty with a little under two minutes left in overtime. When Alex Cavallini made the "golden save" in the Finland shootout, Keller skated into the celebration from the other side of the rink. You could say she was due. This time, the celebration skated into her."
Megan Keller won her first Olympic gold medal at 21 in Pyeongchang while still emerging as a top defensive prospect. A late illegal hit in overtime produced a 95-second penalty kill and left her ineligible for the shootout because of unserved seconds. The following year, a slashing penalty in overtime of the world-championship final again kept her out of the immediate celebration after the opposing shootout concluded. Keller developed into a heavy-ice-time defender for the national team and later in the PWHL, known for long minutes and significant puck-possession contributions.
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