Canada doubles up on rival U.S. to complete perfect round robin in women’s hockey | CBC Sports

WATCH | Poulin converts on penalty shot:

Marie-Philip Poulin scores shorthanded penalty shot goal in win over United States

While killing a penalty, Marie-Philip Poulin stole the puck, drew a penalty shot and scored to give Canada a 4-2 win over the United States in preliminary round play at the Beijing 2022 Olympics. 1:49

Canadian goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens made a whopping 51 saves, including 16 in a perfect first period where her team managed just four shots on net and was generally outplayed.

At one point, the Americans managed nearly two straight minutes of offensive zone time. U.S. forward Abbey Murphy was sprung in alone on Desbiens, but her attempt caught iron, bounced off of the goalie’s back and rattled the post once again.

Seconds later, an American shot from the point squeaked under Desbiens’ pads, but Canadian defender Renata Fast was there to save the day, clearing the puck from in the crease behind her netminder.

And despite all that, it was the Canadians sitting on a 1-0 lead at first intermission thanks to a power-play goal from Jenner.

Play finally opened up both ways during a wild second period that saw the archrivals trade chances through much of the frame.

The Americans got on the board first with a pair of goals just over two minutes apart to take a 2-1 lead. After Dani Cameranesi pounced on a rebound to equalize the game at one, Alex Carpenter put one past Desbiens on the power play to give the U.S. its lone lead.

However, it didn’t last long. Thirty-four seconds later, Jenner once again crashed the net, this time taking a slick feed from forward Sarah Nurse and depositing it into the back of the net.

A penalty against Canadian defender Jocelyne Larocque provided some tense moments soon after, but in the dying seconds of the kill, Poulin burst in between two American defenders for a breakaway. When one of them, Cayla Barnes, hooked Poulin just after she passed the blue line, the Canadians were awarded a penalty shot.

Captain Clutch made no mistakes. The 30-year-old was stopped by Rooney in the shootout with the game on her stick in the 2018 Olympics final, but she earned some redemption on Tuesday at the Wukesong Sports Centre, lifting the puck just over Rooney’s pad for the first penalty-shot goal in Olympic women’s hockey history.

Canada then seemed happy to sit back for most of the third period and protect its lead. The pace of the game slowed, Desbiens made the saves she needed to make and the Canadians ultimately escaped with the victory.

Canada now has six wins in nine Olympic contests against the U.S.

It played its third consecutive game without forward Mélodie Daoust, the leading goal- and point-scorer at the 2021 world championships, after she was injured during the team’s opener against Switzerland. Hockey Canada has said it expects Daoust back at some point in Beijing.

Next up for both teams is the quarter-finals, which take place between Feb. 10 and Feb. 12. Canada will play the third-place team from Group B, while the Americans take on the second-place squad. Their quarter-final won’t be set until Finland plays Denmark to determine the Group B standings later in the day.

The semifinals go on Feb. 13 and Feb. 14, and the gold-medal game — the next possible time Canada and the U.S. can meet — is scheduled for Feb. 16 at 11:10 p.m. ET.

WATCH | Replay of Canada’s 4-2 win over United States in women’s prelims:

Canadian and ROC hockey teams wear masks due to testing delay

The Hockey Show discusses how COVID-19 testing delays led to both teams wearing N95 masks during Canada’s 6-1 win. 1:59