MILAN – All the pain that puddled in the corners of Artturi Lehkonen’s eyes revealed something beautiful and true.

Hockey at the Olympics brings out a passion in a man that the NHL cannot fully understand.

Blowing a two-goal lead Friday in a 3-2 loss to Canada that wrecked the gold medal dream of Lehkonen and his Finnish brothers was nearly too much for him to bear.

“Tough pill to swallow,” Lehkonen said.

And that he lost this semifinal game to three Avalanche teammates who will play big roles for Team Canada when they face off against the United States for the Olympic championship?

It almost made the agony of defeat worse for Lehkonen.

“Yes,” he said, “they’re my teammates during the NHL season. But this sucks for me.”

As Lehkonen held a wake for his country’s championship aspirations, Avs teammate and Canadian defenseman Devon Toews walked by him in the interview area.

Toews gently cupped the top of Lehkonen’s helmet with his palm, then drew his mouth so close to the 30-year-old Finn’s ear to whisper condolences meant for only the two of them to share.

While in the embrace of his Avalanche brother, Lehkonen looked as if he wanted to cry.

It was Nathan MacKinnon, another Colorado teammate that Lehkonen will rejoin when NHL play resumes next week, who drove the stake through Finland’s hockey-loving heart with a tough-angle shot that somehow squeezed past the near post and the shoulder of goaltender Juuse Saros during the waning seconds of the third period.

“He’s the best in the world,” Lehkonen said. “I’ve seen (MacKinnon) do that many times. And, today, it went against us.”

There is no “us” anywhere in the NHL, not even the Stanley Cup Final, that can match the lifelong bond among the native sons of Finland, whose 5.6 million people make the country’s population smaller than what you’ll find within the borders of Colorado.

While the Finns have no shortage of world-class talent to put on the ice, it was their David-versus-Goliath passion that staked them to a 2-0 lead on a short-handed goal by Erik Haula early in the second period.

“I don’t think any of us came (to Italy) and thought we were just going to snatch away the gold without anybody contesting us,” said Avs defenseman Cale Makar, a native of Calgary who has contributed four assists in five games during this tournament.

Canada, with no fewer than a half dozen players bound for the Hall of Fame on its roster, has now been forced to survive overtime in two consecutive elimination games at these Olympics.

After the United States routed Slovakia 6-2 in the semifinals, it appears the Americans might be in better form than their rival from north of the border. And in Connor Hellebuyck, the U.S. certainly has a goalie more likely to stand on his head, especially compared to Canadian counterpart Jordan Binnington, who might be more likely to lose his ever-loving mind.

“I think that’s what everyone wanted … this matchup in the gold medal game,” U.S. forward Dylan Larkin said. “It’s going to be a battle of the ages.” 

No team from a Canadian city has won the Stanley Cup since 1993.

And Canada hasn’t won Olympic gold since the last time NHL pros participated at the Winter Games, back in 2014.

“We’re playing for our country. The logo. That’s all the motivation I need,” MacKinnon said. 

The blood of a native son runs thicker than burgundy and blue.

That’s why, when the United States plays Canada with a gold medal on the line during an Olympic-sized showdown on Sunday, there will be no love lost between Colorado teammates.

Brock Nelson will wear the red, white and blue.

MacKinnon, Makar and Toews will proudly rep the maple leaf logo.

“New teammates,” MacKinnon said. “New brothers.”

The Avs are a job for which all these players are grateful.

Playing for the glory of your country, however, is a true labor of love.

Back in Colorado, I know there are untold thousands of Avalanche fans who have the burgundy and blue sweaters of MacKinnon, Makar or Toews hanging in the closet.

And in the closet is where those replica jerseys should stay when MacKinnon, Makar and Toews take the ice against the U.S.

For one day, they are not Avs.

They’re bad guys standing in the way of the first hockey gold since 1980 for Team USA.