USA's Kendall Coyne and Hilary Knight hold their gold medals and the US flag after the medal ceremony after the women's ice hockey event. Pic/ AFP

The United States won Olympic women's ice hockey gold for the first time in 20 years on Thursday, edging four-time defending champion Canada 3-2 in a dramatic penalty shootout in the Pyeongchang Winter Games final. The Americans snapped arch-rival Canada's 24-match Olympic women's hockey win streak to claim their first Olympic crown since the inaugural event in 1998 at Nagano.