USA National Women’s Hockey Team – Page 2

The table is set. Dinner is ready. Time to feast on four fantastic women’s games in the quarter-finals. Winners will be competing for a medal after the semi-finals. Losers? Well, you know the drill. They go home.

USA vs. Czechia

The History: This will be the first ever meeting between the teams at either the Olympics or Women’s Worlds.

USA: The Americans might be smarting a bit form their 4-2 loss to Canada on Tuesday, but by the time of puck drop for this game their only emotion will be determination and resolve to make it to the gold-medal game. Apart from that score, they have done everything right. Coach Joel Johnson has used all three of his goalies, and they have combined to allow just six goals in four games. Up front, Amanda Kessel leads the team with six points and Alex Carpenter has four goals. Oddly, the U.S. is last in penalties, having taken only nine minors, but they have also surrendered three goals on seven chances. No matter how you slice it, however, the Americans are overwhelming favourites.

Czechia: The Czechs are happy to be here. This is their first Olympics, and they have surprised fans by winning two games, losing to Denmark, 3-2, and losing to Japan in a shootout. They have scored only ten goals in four games and have yet to score even once on the power play. Tereza Vanisova leads the team with five points, but overall the scoring is spread thin. Goalie Klara Peslarova has played in all four games and has a sparkling 1.18 GAA, but her life is about to get a lot busier now that Czechia is playing a Group A nation. It will take a miracle for the Czechs to win this game, but a QF appearance is a very respectable result for the team all the same.

Quotable: “We will put up a good fight. We have never played the U.S., and it will be a good challenge. They are a great team. We have to stick to our playbook to have a chance of success.”—Czech forward Alena Mills

Canada vs. Sweden

The History: Canada has won all five Olympics meetings by a cumulative score of 41-6, including a 4-1 win in the gold-medal game in Turin in 2006 and a 13-1 win in 2010, their most recent Olympics meeting. In World Women’s play, they are 9-0 against Sweden, but amazingly they have not played in WW since 2009.

Canada: What can you say about the current Women’s World gold medallists? They are firing on all cylinders. Their 4-0 record here in Beijing is by a cumulative score of 33-5. Goalie Ann-Renee Desbiens has been fantastic, especially against the United States when she stopped 51 of 53 shots. Up front, Canada boasts the top seven scorers, led by Natalie Spooner with 11 points and Sarah Fillier and Brianne Jenner with five goals each. Their one weakness to date is that they have incurred 24 penalties, second-most in the tournament, but they have allowed only two power-play goals against while scoring six. This is a team that can do it all, and as with the first QF, a loss here would constitute a staggering upset.

Sweden: Never having beaten Canada and most recently having been demoted to Division I-A, the Swedes are also happy to be here. They are a young and emerging team with a bright future. Emma Soderberg is clearly the goalie of the future, as are young stars like 19-year-old Linnea Johansson and 21-year-old Maja Nylen-Persson. The team, however, has scored only seven goals and generated only 109 shots through four games. To the good, they have yet to surrender a power-play goal against. Nevertheless, they will need a “mirakel” to advance further.

Quotable: “It couldn’t feel better. I don’t think many people would believe we’d stand here in a quarter-final. Now we’ll just go for it. I’m so proud of this team. It’s a tough game. It is not beautiful, but we made it.”—Swedish forward Michelle Lowenhielm.

ROC vs. Switzerland

The History: The teams have each won two games of four previous matchups at the Olympics, while ROC/Russia holds a 6-3-1 advantage in Women’s Worlds play. More important, however, Switzerland rallied to beat ROC 3-2 in overtime at the 2021 WW, but a week ago they lost 5-2 at the start of this preliminary round.

ROC: ROC has to feel good about its win over Switzerland on 4 February. They took a 2-2 game and scored three unanswered goals to win in their most offensive game so far. Their goaltending has been spotty, though. It would be unreasonable for coach Yevgeni Bobariko to rely on 17-year-old Daria Gredzen, but the other two—Valeria Merkusheva and Maria Sorokina—have not had strong tournaments to date. But perhaps the biggest concern for ROC is the changeability of their lineup. They have been severely hampered by absent players and have produced a different roster for each game. Who will play in this game? Not even Bobariko knows at this point.

Switzerland: The flip side to the earlier game is that the Swiss rallied from 1-0 and 2-1 down to tie the game early in the second period, only to let it slip away. And they have a top line of captain Lara Stalder, Alina Muller, and Phoebe Stanz that has been playing well. Andrea Brandli has been steady, although busy, in the Swiss goal, but scoring has been their downfall. They had only three goals in their first three games, all losses, and managed to equal that number in an important 3-2 win over Finland last Monday. If they can get an early goal, play solid defence, and be the better team on special teams, they’ll have a great chance of moving on.

Quotable: “Against Switzerland we capitalized on our chances. Against Finland we didn’t manage to score. We have to calm down a bit, and we need to score goals to be able to play a good game.”—ROC captain Anna Shokina.

Finland vs. Japan

The History: The Finns have won the only three meetings between the teams in women’s hockey, starting with an 11-1 thumping at the Nagano Olympics and followed by 1-0 and 6-1 wins at the Women’s Worlds.

Finland: The Finns had a terrible start, losing three in a row before righting the ship with an impressive 5-0 win over the short-handed ROC. They have a great goalie in Anni Keisala, but she has been inconsistent. At the back end, they have Jenni Hiirkoski, who can play half a game at full effectiveness, and up front they have the firepower to put the puck in the net. Their top scorer is Susanna Tapani, with three goals, all on the power play. In all, they have six goals with the extra skater, tied with Canada for most in the tournament. This should be a Finland win, but given their rough start and the good play of Japan, nothing can be taken for granted.

Japan: Japan finished first in Group B with three wins and a shootout loss, the same as at last year’s Women’s Worlds in Calgary, their best preliminary round ever. And they did so with fine goaltending from Nana Fujimoto, who has played almost the entire tournament to date, She has allowed only five goals and has a sparkling 1.25 GAA. Haruka and Ayaka Toko have led the offense, scoring four of the team’s 13 goals. They have also excelled in special teams, being last in penalties taken, and among the best in terms of penalty killing and power play effectiveness.

Quotable: “They will be a tough opponent. They are skillful; they skate well; they seem to have a good team spirit. We have to analyze them. We have two days off now and need to focus on them and our own team and make a plan to beat them.”—Finland coach Juuso Toivola.

Source: iihf.com

It is one of the greatest rivalries in sports, and when Canada defeated the U.S. 4-2 to lock up first place in Group A, it was the most exciting hockey we’ve seen yet at these 2022 Olympics.

In Tuesday’s battle between the North American superpowers at the Wukesong Sports Centre, Canada was outplayed for stretches in both the first and third periods. But the 2021 World Champions stayed the course, got world-class goaltending from starter Ann-Renee Desbiens (51 saves) and capitalized on their chances to stay perfect with a fourth straight win. The Canadians got three goals in 7:25 in the second period.

In total, the U.S. outshot Canada 53-27.

“We just wanted to be relentless all over the ice and I think we had a couple of moments where we got a little bit sloppy and not as aggressive as we normally are, and that’s where we give the other team life,” said Canada’s Sarah Nurse. “I think once we got back to those principles that we want to instill, we had a pretty good game.”

Brianne Jenner stepped up with a pair for Canada and now shares the Olympic goals lead with teammate Sarah Fillier (five). Captain Marie-Philip Poulin cashed in on a penalty shot for her first goal of these Games and added an assist, and Jamie Lee Rattray got her third goal of the tournament.

Dani Cameranesi and Alex Carpenter replied for the defending Olympic champion Americans, who lost their first game in Beijing.

Asked what the U.S. needs to do to improve in the medal round, Olympic rookie Abbey Murphy said: “Not letting down in the second period. I think we had some tough shifts and you can’t do that, especially against Canada.”

High-octane offence was expected and provided. Canada now has 33 goals in four games – more than the Finns, ROC team, and Swiss combined. Coach Joel Johnson’s American women are up to 20 goals.

The Canadians, winners of four Olympic gold medals (2002, 2006, 2010, 2014), are hungry to regain the title they dramatically lost to the Americans, 3-2 in a shootout, in Korea in 2018. Likely, a rematch with the Americans looms on 17 February. The cross-border rivals have squared off in every Olympic final except 2006, when Canada beat the Cinderella Swedes 4-1.

Canadian coach Troy Ryan gave Desbiens her third start after Emerance Maschmeyer earned the W in Monday’s 6-1 win over the ROC team. Desbiens was as technically brilliant as her battle level was high.

“She was stellar today,” said Nurse. “I’ve been on the same team as her the last six, seven, eight years and I think that was one of the best games I’ve ever seen her play. She was just calm, collected and poised. She really made it look easy.”

U.S. goalie Maddie Rooney got her second Beijing start after stopping 10 of 12 shots in the opening 5-2 win over Finland. Rooney is best-known for starring in the 2018 Olympic gold medal game, foiling 2010 MVP Meghan Agosta on Canada’s final shootout attempt.

“Overall, I thought we played a great game as a team,” Rooney said. “We got a lot of shots from the perimeter, but we’ve just got to get better chances in tight around the net and capitalize. We’ll learn from this game and I feel good about our offensive game moving forward.”

Psychologically, this was a big game for Canada to get the top playoff seed. Still, it’s worth remembering that Canada edged the U.S. 2-1 in the group stage in 2018 and yet settled for silver. No room for complacency.

The Americans picked up steam early and dominated the first period with their aggressive forecheck, earning a 16-5 edge in shots. They hemmed Canada in its own end – something not previously seen in Beijing – midway through the first.

Power forward Abby Roque created a turnover, busting down the middle, and backhanded the puck off Desbiens’ right post. Moments later, a blast by Murphy ricocheted off both posts. The Canadian goalie had to stand on her head to keep the game scoreless.

Natalie Spooner, who leads the Olympics with 11 points, said of the Americans: “They are a lot faster (than other teams) and you’ve gotta get used to making your decisions quicker. Maybe it takes a shift or two to feel your legs and get them moving.”

Entering this game with the tournament’s top power play (41.6 percent), Canada shifted the momentum by opening the scoring on a 5-on-4 at 14:10. With U.S. Olympic rookie Caroline Harvey off for cross-checking Sarah Fillier from behind, Poulin fed the puck from the left faceoff circle to Fillier at the goal line, and her one-touch centering pass found Jenner, who surprised Rooney with a high shot.

In the second period, blood was shed, but not because both teams drove to the net fearlessly. U.S. veteran Amanda Kessel inadvertently clipped referee Cianna Lieffers with a high stick and cut her. She went off for repairs and the play continued with three on-ice officials until Lieffers returned with a Band-Aid.

On a 4-on-2 rush, Alex Carpenter, who scored both U.S. goals in the 2021 Women’s Worlds final, shot high and wide on the U.S.’s best chance on its second power play. But the Stars and Stripes were coming on.

Desbiens couldn’t do it all by herself. Cameranesi jumped up to get a Kelly Pannek feed from behind the goal line, grabbed the rebound from Canada’s first save, and slid it into the gaping cage at 9:17.

An exciting rush led by Roque led to America’s second goal. Roque found Kessel in the middle and she skimmed it to partner-in-crime Carpenter, who let Desbiens go down before roofing a backhander for a 2-1 lead at 11:34.

Jenner got the equalizer for Canada just 26 seconds later. Going hard to the net, she one-timed Nurse’s pass from the right side past Rooney’s right skate. Jenner now has 12 points in her last 11 Olympic and Women’s Worlds games against the Americans, more than any skater on either side.

Rattray made it 3-2 Canada at 14:25. Spooner tried a backhand wraparound and the puck squirted right out to Rattray, who made no mistake.

“It seemed like every time we stubbed our own toe, it ended up in the back of our net,” said Johnson.

With under three minutes to pay in the middle frame, Cayla Barnes hooked Poulin on a shorthanded breakaway and the captain was awarded a penalty shot, the first one in Canadian Olympic women’s hockey history. She curled in from the left side and got the puck past Rooney’s blocker for a 4-2 lead.

“It felt great, obviously,” said Spooner. “I think Marie-Philip would have buried the original shot if she’d got in there. She’s a goal-scorer and can score those big goals, and I think it gave the whole team a lift.”

In the third period, the Americans refused to cave, outshooting Canada 21-6. But Johnson pointed out: “It’s great to get zone time and shots on goal but when they’re blocking as many as they did, shots don’t matter. We’ve got to find a way to generate higher-quality chances if we expect to win a game like this.”

The U.S. had a great chance to narrow the gap when four-time Canadian Olympian Rebecca Johnston was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct after shoving Hannah Brandt. But the Canadians killed it off with authority.

“There’s a lot of pride on the line and a lot of hostility out there,” Nurse said.

Johnson pulled Rooney for the extra attacker with 2:37 left when Blayre Turnbull got dinged for tripping. But the 6-on-4 was fruitless. Unlike many other U.S.-Canada games, there would be no wild comebacks.

“We’ve got more big games coming up, so you’ve gotta have a short-term memory,” Rooney said. “We have to learn from the mistakes, but not get too down about it and just move on to the next one.”

Of facing more than 50 shots, Desbiens said: “It actually didn’t feel too bad. I guess in the first period, yes it did! We had a lot of defensive zone time, but in the second and third [periods] we were able to get it out more often.”

The Canadians have been red-hot lately. After defeating the U.S. 3-2 in overtime on Poulin’s goal to win the 2021 Women’s Worlds, they carried that momentum into the pre-Olympic Rivalry Series. Fillier starred with a series-high five goals and Poulin scored sudden-death winners twice as Canada won four out of the six Rivalry Series games.

This was the ninth all-time meeting between Canada and the U.S. at the Olympics. Canada’s record now sits at six wins and three losses.

Source: iihf.com