The United States erased the horrors of past performances with a shootout win against Canada to capture the gold medal.
Joceleyne Lamoureux-Davidson pulled off an incredible deke in the sixth round, while Maddie Rooney closed the door on Meghan Agosta as the U.S. won for the first time since the ’98 Nagano games.
The Americans needed a goal in the fourth inning as Melodie Daoust lit the lamp for Canada, but Amanda Kessel answered. The sister of two-time Stanley cup champion Phil Kessel snapped a wrist shot over the glove of Shannon Szabados to keep the dream alive for the U.S.
Trailing 2-1 in the third period, Monique Lamoureux-Morando converted a breakaway to knot the score 2-2 to force the 20 minute overtime period that preceded the prolonged shootout. Kelly Pannek took advantage of a poor Canadian line change and found No. 7 waiting at the opposition’s blue line.
Hilary Knight scored her second of the tournament to open up the scoring at 19:35 of the first period. Knight redirected Sidney Morin’s shot to give the U.S. a 1-0 lead on its third power play of the first 20 minutes.