With the NHL deciding to pass on the Olympics this time around, it appeared as though hockey wouldn't be on the same marquee level as in recent years.

Then the women's hockey gold medal matchup between the U.S. and Canada happened on Thursday, and everyone realized the NHL wasn't needed for hockey perfection.

Most would call it one of the best rivalries in Olympic sports, but it's time to drop "Olympic" from that statement. Every time these two bordering nations meet, their fan bases approach the contest with a passion of epic proportions.

While the United States has dominated in the women's World Hockey Championships, winning seven of the last eight events, Canada has owned the Olympics, piling up a 24-game winning streak heading to the gold medal matchup in PyeongChang.

The last time Canada lost a game in Olympic competition was to the Americans at Nagano 1998. It had rolled off four straight gold medals since then, but a feisty U.S. team ensured that would be the end of it in the most dramatic of fashions.

It seemed impossible that these two teams could match the spectacle that was played four years ago in Sochi.

The 2014 final saw two Canadian goals in the last 3:30, plus a final-minute American shot glance off the goal post with the net empty, to force overtime. Marie-Philip Poulin would supply the winner and keep the Canadian streak rolling.

The teams would do one better Thursday, battling through a 20-minute 4-on-4 overtime to see a shootout decide the winner. While practically nobody believes a shootout is a proper way to finish a hockey game, the skill on display in this one left even the angriest Twitter mob silent on the topic.

An absolutely absurd shootout goal by Canada's Melodie Daoust would be canceled out by an equally outrageous effort from Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson. That meant Meghan Agosta, perhaps Canada's most talented player of the past decade, needed to score to keep the shootout alive.

As if the drama wasn't enough, the woman standing in Agosta's way was 20-year-old Maddie Rooney, who hadn't yet celebrated her first birthday the last time the U.S. beat Canada in the Olympics.

Rooney would rise to the occasion, stopping Agosta and then charge straight for her joyful teammates to celebrate finally knocking off their dreaded rival.

The men's hockey tournament rolls on with the semifinals on the horizon. While it doesn't feature current NHLers, it wouldn't change things much even if names like Crosby, Ovechkin, Matthews, and McDavid were taking the ice.

When it comes to the best of Olympic hockey, it's a women's world.

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)