Utica, N.Y. — After an injury delayed her appearance at the Women's World Hockey Championship, it seemed like it was only a matter of time before Marie-Philippe Poulain, also known as Canada's Captain Clutch, made her presence known.
That moment came on Sunday. Poulin scored twice in a breathtaking 6-5 overtime victory over the United States, giving Canada a tournament-record 13th gold medal.
“I don't want to say we're counting on it, I don't want to say we're counting on it, but I know we're starting to count on it,” Canada coach Troy Ryan said. “Tonight was on a whole other level. Every time we called her name, you could see in her eyes that she was ready to go. It's just special.”
In a game that was decided by Daniel Serdachny's power-play goal off a rebound 5 minutes and 16 seconds into overtime, Poulin gave Canada a make-or-break game, with momentum changing and the lead changing hands three times. Although neither team could score, he played a decisive role in bringing Canada to a decisive victory. Build a lead of one goal or more.
The U.S. gained momentum in the second period by scoring twice in less than six minutes to take a 3-2 lead, before Poulin tied the game with a shot that hit the crossbar with 1:02 left in the period. .
“I'm glad we were able to do this today,” said Poulin, who missed the final three games leading up to the suspended World Championship against the PWHL Montreal team. “You want to win, and I'm competitive and that's part of it.”
Poulin, 33, earned that nickname after scoring the gold-medal-clinching goal against the United States at both Winter Olympics and the 2021 World Championships.
A year after losing 6-3 to the United States, Canada defeated the United States on its home turf in central New York for its 10th championship in a tournament outside of Toronto.
The relentless pace and intensity of the back-and-forth was also on display once again in the 36th tournament between the world's best.
Poulin even sought out U.S. captain Hilary Knight and gave her a hug on the ice.
“We just said, 'I can't believe it,'” Poulin said.
From an American perspective, it's heartbreaking.
American defenseman Caroline Harvey had a goal and an assist, but had two pucks thrown at her.
“There's no emotion. I mean, that's not the outcome we wanted,” Harvey said. “That's not what we came here for. It's definitely very motivating. I'm pretty speechless at this point.”
Aside from the home loss, the game ended with Serdachny's power play goal with two seconds left due to a too many players penalty. Erin Ambrose's shot from the left circle was stopped by Aerin Frankel, and Serdachny poured the puck into the net.
“Let us regroup after that game,” U.S. coach John Roblewski said after three seconds of silence. “Rather than talk about individual incidents in tonight's game, which I normally think are interesting storylines, I think the substance of a great 6-on-5 game is a great hockey game that was played. ”
With a young, untested team and four players making their first tournament appearances, the Americans can learn from this as they build for the future.
“We got a lesson on that tonight. And we're going to see if we can pull it off and get our players to understand what that lesson was.” Brewski said.
Julia Gosling, Erin Ambrose and Emily Clarke also scored for Canada. Anne-Renee Desbiens made 19 saves, including kicking out her left skate to block Harvey's wraparound attempt 2:40 into overtime.
Knight, Laila Edwards, Megan Keller and Alex Carpenter also scored for the Americans, who finished the tournament 6-1.
Frankel set a single tournament record with four shutouts and finished with 24 saves.
Neighbors and women's global powerhouses once again showed why their rivalry is considered one of the fiercest and fiercest in sports.
This was the 10th time in 36 world championships that both teams played beyond regulation and the first time in the gold medal game since Poulin scored a 3-2 OT victory in 2021. Ta. It was also the highest-scoring game between the United States and Canada in 2021. This is their first match since the USA won 7-5 in the 2015 World Championship gold medal match.
The rivalry is so intense that both teams are 18-18 at the World Championships, with Canada leading in points 104-103.
The offensive explosion came from Monday's low-scoring but fast-paced and captivating qualifying-round game, in which the Americans won 1-0 on an extra-time goal from Kirsten Sims.
Just as Canada appeared to take the lead with Poulin's second goal, she tapped the puck four times from close range, knocking it in with 7:41 left, and Harvey scored 2:39 later. , tying the game at 5 points. Set by Lacey Eden. He scored from the back of the net and gave Harvey a one-time feed from the left circle.
Canada's Ella Shelton made a crucial stop with 3:21 left in regulation when Edwards' shot from the right side of the goal deflected off a player in front of her. The puck was dribbling toward the open left side, but Shelton extended his stick and deflected the puck wide.
The pace and intensity of play was so fast that even Harvey admitted it was difficult to catch his breath.
“I was on the edge of my seat, looking forward to what was going to happen, and the ending was shocking,” Harvey said.
Earlier in the day, Petra Nieminen scored the decisive shootout goal as Finland defeated the Czech Republic 3-2 to claim their 14th bronze medal and their first since 2021.
The International Ice Hockey Federation has announced that next year's world championship will be held in Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic, the first time the tournament has been held in the Czech Republic.
