(Herning, Denmark) Canada had to find a new way to win a world title in women’s hockey after its Olympic triumph earlier this year and its gold medal at the World Championship a year ago.
Updated yesterday at 9:45 p.m.
The Canadians played their best match of the tournament in their 2-1 victory over their eternal rivals, the Americans, in the final on Sunday.
The Maple Leaf won its third major international title in the space of a year after beating the United States 3-2 for Olympic gold in February in Beijing and 3-2 in overtime in the final. of the 2021 World Cup, a little over a year ago.
“It hasn’t been very smooth. It was very different from our Olympic victory and our last World Championship victory, but it is reassuring to know that when things are not so easy, we can find other ways to win, said the striker Brianne Jenner. We fought and we got the job done. »
Jenner scored two goals, one minute apart, in the second period on Sunday. Author of nine goals in Beijing, the 31-year-old Ontarian had scored her first goal of the championship in the semi-finals.
The Americans finished the middle period on the power play. Abby Roque took the opportunity to close the gap with 20.8 seconds on the clock. She scored on the power play for the fourth time in the tournament.
Goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens was the calm eye of the storm in the third period as the United States furiously tried to even the score.
In the third period, the Americans outshot 12-6, but the Canadians blocked the shots with abandon in the final two minutes when the United States pulled Nicole Hensley off goal for an extra forward.
Desbiens made 20 saves for the win, while Hensley stopped 17 shots.
PHOTO BO AMSTRUP, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Canadian Jessie Eldridge and United States keeper Nicole Hensley
“The best team in the world”
“I think going into this tournament we were convinced we were the best team in the world,” said forward Sarah Nurse.
“We really wanted to show it. Winning three gold medals in one year is something very special and I don’t know if we will ever be able to do it again,” she added.
We found a new way to win a championship. We weren’t as productive as at the Olympics, but [dimanche] we did the work on the power play, we blocked shots and we passed penalties. Ann-Renée also made a few key saves.
Marie-Philip Poulin, captain of the Canadian team
In the preliminary round, Canada lost 5-2 to an American team that seemed ready to regain the supremacy of women’s hockey.
Canada’s performance in their 8-1 victory over Switzerland in the semi-finals, however, indicated that the defending champions were finding their form.
But the United States entered the final undefeated with a goal differential of plus 47, against plus 22 for Canada.
Canada and the United States have met in the final of all but one championship since the inaugural tournament in Ottawa in 1990.
The Americans won five titles in a row, as well as Olympic gold in 2018, before the Canadians pulled the rope over the past year in the tug of war that is their rivalry.
“We have to find a way to reverse the scenario,” USA captain Kendall Coyne Schofield said on Sunday.
The 2021 championship had been postponed due to the pandemic. The International Ice Hockey Federation’s hosting of a top-level women’s championship in the same year as the Olympics squeezed three major tournaments into just over 12 months for the first time.
The world championship will be held in Canada next year and in the United States in 2024.
A first medal for the Czech Republic
Czechia won the bronze medal with a 4-2 win over Switzerland on Sunday afternoon. The Czechs, led by Alberta’s Carla MacLeod, a former Canadian defender, had reached the tournament’s semi-finals for the first time in their history. Natálie Mlýnková led the Czech attack with two goals. Daniela Pejšová and Offrela Přibylová scored the other goals. Goaltender Klára Peslarová blocked 18 pucks and added an assist on Přibylová’s goal. Alina Marti and Nicole Vallario offered the reply for Switzerland. Goalkeeper Andrea Brändli made 23 saves.
The Canadian Press