Canada falls to U.S. in women’s world hockey championship
Meeting for the fifth consecutive year in the gold medal game at the IIHF Women’s World Championship, the United States came out on top against Canada in another instant classic, winning 4-3 in overtime.
Tessa Janecke scored with two minutes and 53 seconds remaining in the first overtime period after a Canada turnover led to a two-on-one for the States. Janecke buried the game winner off of an assist from Taylor Heise who capitalized off of a botched line change in turnover in Canada’s end.
The win avenges last year’s final in Utica, N.Y. when the U.S. lost to Canada 6-5 in overtime. Sunday’s final was another example of how evenly matched the two rivals are: in the four most recent tournament games between the two nations, all have been decided by one goal.
The U.S. had beaten Canada 2-1 in the group stage to grab the #1 seed in the round robin after finishing with a 4-0 record. Despite the lone loss, Canada flew through the first two rounds with a 9-0 win over Japan, and 8-1 win over the eventual bronze medal winners, Finland.
READ: Canada routs Finland in semifinal, advances to gold medal match with U.S.
The United States meanwhile, survived a tough test against Czechia, winning 2-1 to advance to the final. This set up the fifth consecutive gold medal final featuring the two.
After a scoreless first period from both sides, roughly eight minutes elapsed in the second before the U.S. scored two goals within 29 seconds of game time. First it was Caroline Harvey who netted a goal off of a turnover in the neutral zone. As the goal was still being announced over the P.A. system, Abbey Murphy netted a rebound after Ann-Renée Desbiens failed to secure a loose puck to make it 2-0 for the States.
Canada wasted little time getting back in the game. Danielle Serdachny scored on a wobbly slap shot at the 11:52 mark, giving U.S. fans flashback of her game-winning goal from 2024. Less than a minute later, Jennifer Gardner found herself wide open in front of the net and buried the equalizer off of a great pass from Marie Philip-Poulin.
The game remained tied through to the third period with neither side giving in, until Canada’s Laura Stacey collided with U.S. goalie Aerin Frankel. Frankel did not return after the play and Gwyneth Phillips finished out the game in net.
The play was subject to a lengthy review, and resulted in a charging penalty, giving the U.S. a 5-on-3 power play as Canada’s Sarah Nurse was already in the box. Taylor Heise capitalized on the power play with a top corner wrist shot to give the U.S. the lead.
The Americans held onto the lead for nearly nine minutes of game time before Canada responded once again. Sarah Fillier found the puck in a scramble in front of the U.S. net to tie the game 3-3.
Canada outshot the U.S. 38-23 in regulation, but could not break the tie in the final minutes.
They continued to put pressure on the U.S. in overtime, but back-up Gwyneth Phillips played excellent in replacing Frankel for the U.S.
The game looked like it was headed to an extra period of overtime, before a bad Canadian line change resulted in a turnover from Jocelyn Laroque, which led to Janecke’s tournament winner.
It’s the 11th time the U.S. has won gold at the women’s worlds. Canada’s silver is their 11th.
Marie-Philip Poulin was named tournament MVP. She led the tournament with 12 points, and also became Canada’s all-time career points leader.
In the bronze medal game, Finland came back from a 3-1 deficit to beat host Czechia 4-3 in overtime.