BEIJING — Lifting an already remarkable rivalry to an even higher level of skill and emotion, Canada's women's hockey team used its powerful offense to earn a gold-medal victory over its U.S. counterpart.
Marie-Philip Poulin cemented her reputation as a clutch player by scoring twice as Canada defeated the U.S. 3-2 on Thursday at Wukesong Arena, ending the Americans' reign as Olympic champions.
The U.S. and Canada have met in six of the seven Olympic gold-medal games played since women's hockey was added in 1998. Canada has won four of those meetings and also prevailed over Sweden in the 2006 gold-medal game. The U.S. has won gold in 1998 and 2018.
Hilary Knight scored the first goal for the U.S., a second-effort shorthanded goal in the second period. By playing in the 22nd Olympic contest of her career, she became the leader in games played in U.S. women's hockey history. Jenny Potter and Angela Ruggiero shared the previous record of 21.
Amanda Kessel scored the second goal for the U.S., prodding the puck under the pad of Canada goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens with 13.5 seconds left and the U.S. having a two-player advantage while on a power play and after having pulled goalie Alex Cavallini for an extra skater. However, the U.S. couldn't pull even despite a late frantic push.
The Americans had nearly scored early in the game, when Hannah Brandt found space on the left side and had a clear shot at Desbiens, but Brandt's attempt hit the left post and caromed away.
Canada had an apparent goal wiped out at 7:15 on a clear offside violation, but the team continued to apply pressure in the U.S. defensive zone and soon was rewarded. Canada won a faceoff to the right of Cavallini and got the puck to standout defenseman Claire Thompson, who somehow found the stick of Sarah Nurse in front of the net. Nurse's redirection got past Cavallini at 7:50.
Nurse's goal gave her 17 points, tying the record for most points in one Olympic tournament set in 2006 by Hockey Hall of Fame member Hayley Wickenheiser.
Canada expanded its lead to 2-0 at 15:02 of the second period on a goal by — who else? — Poulin. She forced a turnover in the U.S. zone and whipped a shot past Cavallini, making this the fourth Olympic gold-medal game in which she has scored. She's the only player, male or female, to have scored a goal in four Olympic gold-medal games. That goal also represented her 16th point of the tournament, one behind Nurse for the tournament scoring lead.
Poulin soon earned her 17th point, giving Canada a 3-0 lead at 9:08 of the third period by banking a rebound off Cavallini's right leg from a sharp angle. Nurse broke Wickenheiser's record with her 18th point, an assist on Poulin's goal. Poulin has scored seven goals in her four Olympic gold-medal games.
Knight's shorthanded goal at 16:39 of the second period kept the Americans in the game, and they seemed to gain new life from that. They pressed energetically to start the third, and were nearly rewarded for their work, but Alex Carpenter hit the post a little over four minutes into the period.
The Americans gained a power play at 10:39, when Canada's Jocelyne Larocque was penalized for hooking, but they got no shots on goal. Kessel's goal brought them near, but still too far to claim gold again.
Canada outscored its opponents 57-10 during the tournament.
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