After giving up two goals in the first period, the U.S. rallied to defeat Canada 5-2 in the final Group A game of the 2022 IIHF Women’s World Championship.
“I think that was the best our team has responded in a really long time,” said Kelly Pannek, who scored the equalizer for the U.S. just over 11 minutes into the second period. “A lot of composure and a lot of trust on our bench.”
“I thought it was a good test of character for our team,” echoed Megan Keller. “We stuck together and a lot of players stepped up. I thought Nicole (Hensley), our goalie, was phenomenal. Just a great team win out there.”
After evening the score in the second period, the U.S. stepped it up even more early in the third. Lacey Eden and Kendall Coyne Schofield recorded back-to-back tallies (videos embedded below) before Hilary Knight finished the game off with an empty-net goal. Savannah Harmon, who assisted on both Eden and Coyne Schofield’s goals, was named U.S. player of the game. The Americans outshot Canada 33-28 (with a 14-4 advantage in the third period).
Hensley recorded 26 saves for the U.S., while the Canadians were backstopped by Emerance Maschmeyer (28 saves).
“I think we all know we didn’t give our best game today,” said Sarah Fillier, who scored Canada’s first goal. “We’re just looking forward to playing in quarter(finals) and hopefully meeting the U.S. later down the road.”
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With the win, the U.S. clinched the top spot in group A. The four quarterfinal round matchups are as follows:
- United States (A1) vs Hungary (B3)
- Canada (A2) vs. Sweden (B2)
- Finland (A3) vs. Czechia (B1)
- Switzerland (A4) vs. Japan (A5)
The U.S. and Canada won’t meet again until the gold medal game -- so long as each team win its respective quarterfinal and semifinal round games.
“The feeling of losing to your rivals, it’s now very fresh. And when you feel that, it’s very powerful,” said Canadian defender Meaghan Mikkelson, who is competing in her first major tournament since sustaining a knee injury in May 2021.
After the game, Coyne Schofield confirmed that the U.S. players’ contract negotiations with USA Hockey are still ongoing. The players’ current one-year agreement is set to expire tomorrow, August 31 (more here).
“Obviously we would like a deal to be done and not be distracted by this, you know, tonight and tomorrow, going into the expiration date,” she said. “But again, there’s a reason it’s not done. And I think this team is staying strong, staying together. At the end of the day, we’re happy with the way we’re playing hockey. And we’re thankful for our legal team (Ballard Spahr) that is working around the clock for us back home.”
Happy to confirm that @lacey_eden has an absolute laser. #WomensWorlds 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/NZYRROsph9
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) August 30, 2022
Small, but MIGHTY! 💪@KendallCoyne puts Team USA up 4-2 in the 3rd! #WomensWorlds pic.twitter.com/HntvlIK9Gy
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) August 30, 2022
Follow Alex Azzi on Twitter @AlexAzziNBC
