The United States beat Canada 6-3 in the final of the Women’s World Hockey Championship on Sunday to win gold for the first time since the 2019 edition.
Canada had won the last two editions of the tournament, beating those same Americans in the 2021 and 2022 finals.
Marie-Philip Poulin, with a goal and an assist, and Brianne Jenner, who scored two goals and an assist, led the Canadian offense in the game. Renata Fast had two assists. Ann-Renée Desbiens stopped 16 of 21 shots aimed at her.
The most dominant player of the match, however, was on the United side, as Hilary Knight scored a hat trick.
Abbey Murphy, Cayla Barnes and Caroline Harvey scored the other USA goals. Aerin Frankel finished the game with 24 saves.
Poulin wasted no time in making the Americans pay for their indiscipline early in the game, scoring with a good wrist shot that beat Frankel to the shield side.
Desbiens then held her team in the game, making several important saves against the American forwards. Desbiens must have stood out in the first sequence of the match, while the United States had a good chance to score after only a few seconds.
By dint of attacking, the United States ended up creating equality at the end of the first period. With 1:59 to go in the first period, Abbey Murphy was quickly outnumbered in the offensive zone with her teammate and went there with a nice feint to thwart the Canadian defender. Murphy then beat Desbiens with a low shot to send his team into the locker room tied.
The Americans got their first power play of the game in the second period. Canada, however, spent almost the entire two minutes sticking the puck close to the boards, behind their net.
That seemed to motivate the Canadian forwards, as Jenner scored just a minute after the penalty expired.
After Knight’s goal, making it 2-2 on another overplay by Canada, Jenner deflected a shot to put her team back in front.
Canada led 19-14 in shots after two games.
The United States once again brought everyone back to square one in the opening minutes of the third period. During a good streak in the Canada zone, Harvey controlled the puck and fired a shot that Desbiens couldn’t see in time, while several players were circulating in the slot.
With 3:52 to play, the Americans had a five-on-three power play and didn’t miss their chance to take the lead for the first time in the game.
Knight scored two straight power-play goals, earning a hat trick to give his team a 5-3 lead. Cayla Barnes concluded the debate with an empty net goal.
This is the first time since 2015 that a final between Canada and the United States ends with a difference of more than one goal (7-5). Only one final has been played involving a team other than these two rivals during this period (2019).