Sarah Nurse scored the go-ahead goal with less than five minutes remaining to secure Team Canada’s first win of the 2022-23 Rivalry Series, beating the U.S. women’s hockey team 3-2 on Thursday at Dollar Loan Center in Henderson, Nev.
The win kept Team Canada’s chances alive in the seven-game series, which the U.S. leads by 3-1 following three straight wins in November. Also scoring for Canada were Jamie Lee Rattray and Blayre Turnbull, whose second-period goals gave the Canadians a 2-1 lead going into the third. Goaltender Kristen Campbell made 21 saves for Canada, which captured gold at both the IIHF Women’s World Championship in September and the Beijing Olympics in February.
Amanda Kessel opened the scoring in the first, giving the U.S. the early lead thanks to an assist from Kendall Coyne Schofield.
“I just saw Kendall get the plug, so when that happens -- and she has space and time -- I know to just get to the net hard,” Kessel told NHL Network. “I didn’t have to do much there but put my stick out and she hit my tape right there, and just an easy tap and roll.”
Kessel noted the chemistry is still a work in progress on the line with Coyne Schofield and Abby Roque: “We haven’t really played much together. It’s our fourth game together and it takes time, but it keeps getting better every single game. Defensively we’ve been pretty good but we’ve still got to create a little bit more offensively.”
Hilary Knight recorded her fourth goal of the series on Thursday, scoring early in the third to tie the game at 2-2. Knight has enjoyed a standout 2022-23 Rivalry Series to date, registering seven points (four goals, three assists). She notched the game-winning goal in a shootout victory in Game 1, the game-winning assist in Game 2, and she had two goals and one assist in USA’s Game 3 win.
Thursday’s matchup between the U.S. and Canada marked the fourth game of the 2022-23 Rivalry Series. The U.S. came in with a 3-0 series lead following three games in five days last month: Team USA opened with a 4-3 shootout victory -- the first shootout in Rivalry Series history -- in Kelowna, B.C., on Nov. 15, followed by a 2-1 victory in Kamloops, B.C., on Nov. 17. The series moved Stateside for Game 3, where the U.S. won 4-2 and recorded its third consecutive victory against Canada for the first time since 2019. It also marked the first game for the U.S. national team on home soil since Dec. 17, 2021, when the team hosted Canada in St. Louis (Canada won 3-2 in overtime).
The 2022-23 Rivalry Series continues with Game 5 in Los Angeles on Monday.
2022-23 Rivalry Series schedule, results
| DATE | TIME/RESULT | LOCATION | NETWORK |
| Tuesday, Nov. 15 | USA 4, CAN 3 (SO) | Kelowna, British Columbia | NHL Network |
| Thursday, Nov. 17 | USA 2, CAN 1 | Kamloops, British Columbia | NHL Network |
| Sunday, Nov. 20 | USA 4, CAN 2 | Seattle, Washington | NHL Network |
| Thursday, Dec. 15 | CAN 3, USA 2 | Henderson, Nevada | NHL Network |
| Monday, Dec. 19 | 10 p.m. ET | Los Angeles, California | NHL Network |
| TBD | TBD | TBD | NHL Network |
| TBD | TBD | TBD | NHL Network |
What is the Rivalry Series?
The Rivalry Series was introduced by USA Hockey and Hockey Canada during the 2018-19 season and designed as an annual showcase of the highest level of women’s hockey at various locations in the United States and Canada. The first series comprised three games between the two national teams, with Canada winning 2-1. Team USA took 2019-20 title, winning the expanded five-game series 4-1 and wrapping with an overtime win in the finale in front of a then-record-breaking total of 13,320 fans in Anaheim, California.
Following a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic and preparation for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games, the Rivalry Series resumed this season with seven games over three months: three in November, two in December and two in February.
The U.S. and Canada have battled in the gold-medal game of six of seven Winter Olympics and 20 of 21 IIHF Women’s World Championship, with the two exceptions being the 2019 World Championship and 2006 Olympics. The Canadian women are the reigning Olympic and world champions.
2022-23 Rivalry Series rewind: USA takes 3-0 series lead
Game 1 recap: USA 4, CAN 3, SO (Nov. 15): The seven-game series kicked off last month with Team USA grabbing a 2-0 lead off goals from Hannah Brandt and Hilary Knight. But Canada battled back with three unanswered goals and held a 3-2 lead with 13 minutes to go in the third. With just 1:29 remaining in regulation, Alex Carpenter tied it for the Americans, sending the game to overtime. The U.S. ultimately won in a shootout, with Knight and Carpenter scoring while U.S. goalie Nicole Hensley made two key saves.
Game 2 recap: USA 2, CAN 1 (Nov. 17): Canada was first to get on the board when Marie-Philip Poulin capitalized off a penalty shot opportunity in the second period, but USA’s Kendall Coyne Schofield knotted the score just 1:12 later. Alex Carpenter scored the go-ahead tally with 6:36 remaining in the third to give the U.S. a 2-1 win and a 2-0 series lead. U.S. goalie Maddie Rooney recorded 19 saves in net.
Game 3 recap: USA 4, CAN 2 (Nov. 20): Team USA’s Hilary Knight had two goals and one assist to lead the U.S. women to a 4-2 win over Canada. Savannah Harmon and Abby Roque also scored for the U.S., which notched three consecutive wins against Canada for the first time since 2019. Goalie Nicole Hensley made 22 saves in front of a record-setting crown at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle, where fan attendance totaled 14,551. Marie-Philip Poulin and Sarah Nurse scored for Canada.
Who’s on the roster for December’s Rivalry Series games?
Team USA: The American roster -- led by head coach John Wroblewski -- for December’s games features all 23 players who took home silver for Team USA at the 2022 IIHF Women’s World Championship in August. Also playing for the U.S. this month are 2018 Olympian Kali Flanagan (Hudson, N.H), 2022 Olympian Abbey Murphy (Evergreen Park, Ill.) and Tessa Janecke (Orangeville, Ill.), who is making her U.S. Women’s National Team debut.
Team Canada: The Canadians’ roster, selected by coach Troy Ryan and director of hockey operations Gina Kingsbury, includes 16 players who won gold medals at the 2022 IIHF Women’s World Championship and 2022 Olympic Winter Games, as well as 18 players who played in the Rivalry Series last month. Olympic gold medalists Ashton Bell, Sarah Fillier and Jill Saulnier return to the lineup, while Julia Gosling makes her first international appearance in more than a year. Two players, Megan Carter and Danielle Serdachny, are making their national team debut.
Rivalry Series history
Following Thursday’s loss, the U.S. holds a 6-2-1-3 (W-OTW-OTL-L) record over Canada all time in the Rivalry Series. Canada won the 2018-19 Rivalry Series with a 2-0-0-1 record, while the U.S. won the 2019-20 Rivalry Series with a 3-1-1-0 record.
Overall, Thursday marked meeting No. 171 between Canada and the U.S., the 57th meeting on U.S. ice and the first ever in Nevada. Canada holds the edge in the overall (96-74-1) and in games played in the States (31-25-1).
2019-20 Rivalry Series results
| DATE | RESULT | LOCATION | U.S. PLAYER OF THE GAME |
| Dec. 14, 2019 | USA 4, CAN 1 | Hartford, Connecticut | Alex Cavallini |
| Dec. 17, 2019 | USA 2, CAN 1 | Moncton, N.B. | Alex Carpenter |
| Feb. 3, 2020 | CAN 3, USA 2 (OT) | Victoria, B.C. | Hilary Knight |
| Feb. 5, 2020 | USA 3, CAN 1 | Vancouver, B.C. | Katie Burt |
| Feb. 8, 2020 | USA 4, CAN 3 (OT) | Anaheim, California | Megan Bozek |
2018-19 Rivalry Series results
| DATE | RESULT | LOCATION |
| Feb. 12 | USA 1, CAN 0 | London, Ontario |
| Feb. 14 | CAN 4, USA 3 | Toronto, Ontario |
| Feb. 17 | CAN 2, USA 0 | Detroit Michigan |
