Jason La Rose
GAME NOTES: CANADA VS. UNITED STATES (NOVEMBER 17)
TV: TSN | Stream: TSN Direct
The Rivalry Series rolls on, with Canada’s National Women’s Team and the United States visiting the Sandman Centre in Kamloops for the second of three games this week, the last Canadian stop on this first leg of the series.
LAST GAME
The series opened Tuesday night in Kelowna with, as expected, a tight game between the familiar foes. Claire Thompson and Marie-Philip Poulin erased a two-goal deficit by scoring 62 seconds apart in the second period and Emily Clark gave Canada its first lead early in the third, but the U.S. tied it late and won it in a shootout, taking a 4-3 decision . The Canadians’ best chance to win came in overtime when Poulin was awarded a penalty shot, but American goaltender Nicole Hensley got her toe on the attempt.
WHAT TO WATCH
Canada had a power outage on the power play, going goalless in seven opportunities at five-on-four. That includes 51 seconds of player-advantage time to begin overtime. With some new personnel and a two-and-a-half-month layoff, there’s bound to be some rust, but special teams will play an important role in the series, so the Canadians will need to find their groove.
Hilary Knight did Hilary Knight things in the series opener, giving the U.S. a 2-0 lead early in the second period and opening the scoring in the shootout. The Idaho native, who became the all-time leading scorer at the IIHF Women’s World Championship last summer, surpassing the great Hayley Wickenheiser, upped her all-time Team USA totals to 139 goals and 239 points in 205 international games.
WELCOME (BACK) TO KAMLOOPS
Tonight’s game marks the return of women’s hockey to Kamloops for the first time since the Interior city hosted the 2016 IIHF Women’s World Championship. That tournament was capped by a thriller in the gold medal game – Alex Carpenter beat Emerance Maschmeyer at 12:30 of overtime to give the U.S. a 1-0 win.
Of the 23 players on the Canadian roster for that women’s worlds, seven will return for the Rivalry Series (Maschmeyer, Poulin, Emily Clark, Brianne Jenner, Jocelyne Larocque, Jamie Lee Rattray and Blayre Turnbull). Rebecca Johnston led Canada in scoring, recording seven points in five games, while Maschmeyer was named Top Goaltender after posting a 1.25 goals-against average and .956 save percentage in three starts.
CHASING HISTORY
Poulin brought Canada even with her second-period goal in Kelowna, giving her 94 goals and 196 points in her National Women’s Team career. That puts the pride of Beauceville, Que., just a little closer to becoming the fourth to score 100 goals with Team Canada (joining Hayley Wickenheiser, Jayna Hefford and Danielle Goyette) and the fifth to record 200 points, alongside Wickenheiser, Hefford, Goyette and Caroline Ouellette.
A LOOK BACK
While Canada has the all-time edge with 95 wins in 168 games, this rivalry is about as even as they come. Need proof? In the last 17 meetings between the rivals, dating back to February 2020, seven of those games have needed overtime (Canada has won four, with Poulin getting the game-winning goal in three of them) and three others have been one-goal finishes.
All-time record: Canada leads 95-72-1 (20-18 in OT/SO) Canada goals: 461 United States goals: 408