Amanda Kessel's brother thrilled to see her win Olympic gold

There were some tired Pens on the ice for practice this morning, as a few of them stayed up past 2 a.m. to watch the women's hockey Gold Medal Game, where the United States defeated Canada, 3-2, in a shootout.

"Really good hockey game," Sidney Crosby said. "It's too bad that it's got to end in a shootout, but it was a good game."
There's been a lot of discussion about whether a shootout should decide such an important game, but one player who joked that he liked it, at least last night, was Phil Kessel. His sister Amanda is a member of the U.S. women's national team and was participating in her second Olympic Games - something that almost didn't happen.
Amanda starred for Team USA during her first Olympic Games in 2014, where she helped the Americans win silver. But Amanda suffered a concussion in Sochi and the symptoms, which showed up after she returned home, were absolutely debilitating. She couldn't play for almost two years and during that time, she thought she would never play again.
But Amanda was able to eventually return to the ice and recovered in time to rejoin Team USA ahead of the PyeongChang Games, able to continue chasing a dream she had been working towards her entire life that had almost slipped away.
And Amanda came up clutch when it mattered most, contributing a key goal in the shootout to win her first Olympic gold medal. In fact, it was the first Olympic gold for Team USA since women's hockey was introduced at the Games back in 1998.
"I'm very proud of her," Phil said. "She missed a lot of time with her concussion and stuff. To be able to win a gold medal, it's a special accomplishment and I'm really proud of her."
It's certainly been a thrilling two years for the Kessel family, with Phil a back-to-back Stanley Cup champion and Amanda now an Olympic gold medalist.
"It's been a good run," he grinned. "Hopefully we can keep it going."
Amanda had to score in the shootout to keep Team USA's gold medal hopes alive. She skated in and gave the slightest of head fakes before sniping a shot over Canadian goalie Shannon Szabados' glove and into the top right corner of the net. Just another huge play from a Kessel when their team needs it most.
"It was great," Phil said of the goal. "It was a lot of pressure. They're down 2-1 in the shootout and she kind of has to make it there. She made a great shot and I'm proud of her."
Amanda told reporters in PyeongChang that Phil had texted her before the game that he was proud of her no matter what, and he believed in her. When Phil talked to her after the game, he said that she didn't quite have that same level of conviction about what had just happened.
"I think she can't believe it," he said. "You know, the girls work so hard to get there and it's every four years and that's the biggest game they get a chance to play in. It's a great accomplishment."
Phil's teammates mostly left him alone leading up to and during the game, because, as he said, "I think they all knew I was pretty nervous about the game."
But now that it's over, they're passing along their congratulations.
"Everyone here is excited for Amanda and excited for Phil," Bryan Rust said. "That is such a big accomplishment and the way the last one ended stunned a bit. To have this one end in similar dramatic fashion but in favor of the U.S. is nice."
While Phil's Canadian teammates would have obviously preferred a different outcome, Matt Murray said they're also happy for the Kessel family.
"Everybody's happy for Amanda," he said. "A lot of excitement around here. Good for them. It's unfortunate that they beat my home country, but I'm still excited for Amanda and for everybody else. It's a family in here, so when Phil's sister has some success, it feels like it's kind of everybody's family. It's really cool to be a part of it and to have that connection."
Murray wasn't able to stay awake for the whole game, but watched the highlights and marveled at the mettle of the women in the shootout. Particularly Team USA goaltender Maddie Rooney, who showed incredible poise at just 20 years old.
"That's probably as much pressure as you can get," he said. "It comes down to 1-on-1. It's unfortunate to see a Gold Medal Game go to a shootout like that, but all those girls showed a lot of guts and really came through in probably the most pressure they've ever seen. It was really impressive to see, for sure."
"I'm so pumped for those girls," Ian Cole added. "It's awesome. It's been five Olympics now since they won, so it's awesome. They're such great hockey players that it's just great to see them get the accolades and the attention and the press that they deserve. So excited for them."