Wheels fall off for Canada in 5-2 loss
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| The United States celebrates a fourth straight 4 Nations Cup title. |
On Saturday night at the SaskTel Centre, the U.S. romped to
a 5-2 victory in finesse type fashion over Canada in the gold medal final of
the 4 Nations Cup hockey tournament. The win marked the fourth consecutive year
the United States has won the 4 Nations
Cup.
“Any time you can
represent your country on a world stage, it is an amazing feeling,” said U.S.
right-winger Hilary Knight, who scored twice in the gold medal final. “It is a
great rivalry.
“When you are in
Canada, there is a lot more pressure. It is good to gain that experience. It is
good to gain that momentum going into the next tournament and the next game.
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| U.S. RW Dani Cameranesi (#24) is stopped by Canada G Shannon Szabados. |
The U.S. has been
dominate in recent years on the women’s stage. They have taken the last four
world championship tournaments and captured gold over Canada at the last Winter
Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, held this past February.
Canada’s last win at
a major tournament final against the U.S. was at the 4 Nations Cup in 2014 held in Kamloops,
B.C.
At this year’s 4
Nations Cup, the U.S. finished at 4-0. Canada had a 2-2 record with both losses
coming to the U.S.
The United States
took the preliminary round encounter 2-1 on Wednesday with a late third period
goal.
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| Hilary Knight celebrates her second of two goals for the U.S. |
Following the loss
on Saturday, Poulin said the players on the Canadian team need to do more
self-reflection.
“I think we just
have to take a look in the mirror,” said Poulin. “I think for us we all go back
to our individual teams now, and I think for us we have to move forward.
“Obviously, it is
disappointing. You never want to lose on home soil. We are going to have a hard
look in the mirror and really look at what we have to do to move forward and
take more pride in wearing that jersey.”
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| Captain Marie-Philip Poulin breaks into the offensive zone for Canada. |
Canada responded just over two minutes later, when defender
Laura Fortino drove home a point shot to tie things up at 1-1.
With 3:29 remaining in the first, the U.S. went ahead 2-1 on
a perfectly executed 2-on-1 rush. States centre Kelly Pannek drove down the
right wing and fed a perfect pass across the front of the Canadian goal to
linemate Melissa Samoskevich, who fired home
the go-ahead tally.
“I thought we played
really well,” said U.S. left-winger Dani Cameranesi, who had two assists in
Saturday’s win. “We came at them hard and fast, which is what we wanted to do.
“We made a few
adjustments to our game from the previous games and especially the last game
against Canada. I thought it turned out in our favour.”
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| Sidney Morin starts a rush up ice for the U.S. |
Decker scored her goal off a beauty setup pass from right-winger Sydney Brodt and Knight tipped home a
point shot taken by defender Sydney Morin.
“Once you get behind
4-1 and you’ve been struggling to score goals, it is a big mountain to climb,”
said Canadian head coach Perry Pearn. “I didn’t think that we gave up.
“What happens is now
you think you have to make the perfect shot. You pass up the things that I
think you have to do to beat the U.S.
“You have to take
shots, create rebounds, beat them to the loose pucks and get second and third
chances. We didn’t do enough of that.”
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| Jaime Bourbonnais scored for Canada in the third period. |
Canada pulled Szabados after that tally. She stopped 18 of
23 shots fired her way. Emerance Maschmeyer turned away two shots playing the
rest of the way for Canada in relief.
The SaskTel Centre crowd that has been relatively quiet
since the first period did come to life one more time, when 20-year-old
Canadian defender Jaime Bourbonnais blasted home a power-play goal just past
the midway point of the third period.
The goal wasn’t enough to spark a miracle comeback.
The goal wasn’t enough to spark a miracle comeback.
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| Alex Rigsby makes one of her 23 saves in goal for the U.S. |
Bourbonnais, who was
playing her first games ever with Canada’s senior national women’s team over
the past week, admitted Saturday’s final wasn’t the ending her side envisioned
for the tournament.
“I learned that
hockey is a very tough game,” said Bourbonnais. “Obviously, the Americans are a
very good team.
“You can’t take a
shift off at all. I think (it is about) just moving forward and learning from this
and excelling in the future. It is definitely frustrating.
“I don’t think we
had a bad game at all. I thought we put a lot of pressure on them. We just have
to learn from our experiences and keep going.”
For the moment, the
U.S. gets to enjoy the distinction of being the dominant side in the rivalry.
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| Members of the U.S. team get pictured with the 4 Nations Cup trophy. |
“It is nice to win,”
said Knight. “I won’t complain about that.”
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