Explaining the power play in curling after gold-medal match at Winter Olympics

Those who tuned into the gold medal match in mixed doubles curling at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Tuesday learned all about the power play. 

The power play is a common hockey term, but there's also one in curling. It differs significantly. 

What do you need to know about the power play in curling? 

A power play in curling is a move teams can use once per game. The team that has the hammer — whichever team delivered the final stone in the previous end, like an inning in baseball — gets to use it. 

During the power play, the pre-positioned stones are moved to the sides of the ice instead of the center, creating a clearer scoring path. Teams score points when their rocks get closer to the button or target than the opponents'. The button on the ice looks similar to a bullseye on an archery board. 

A power play in hockey, meanwhile, requires much less explaining. It occurs when a player is penalized and sent to the penalty box, giving one team a numerical advantage. Penalties depend on severity and can last two to five minutes. 

The power play was used twice in Tuesday's match. Swedish brother-sister duo Isabella and Rasmus Wrana exercised it when they were tied with Americans Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin, 3-3, after the fifth end. They didn't exploit it, scoring just one point. 

The American team then used its power play in the seventh end. It was much more successful. Thiesse and Dropkin collected two points and took a 5-4 lead.

That wasn't enough to beat the Swedes. The Americans failed to make a key shot in the last end. Isabella Wrana subsequently tossed the winning stone, securing a 6-5 win.