This time, the Americans had the best 3-2 in overtime thanks to a heroic brace from Hilary Knight.
The United States erased a 0-2 deficit in the third period to slip away with their first victory in the series that serves as Olympic preparation. They put an end to a series of four losses against Canada.
The Canadians had won the first two games of the Rivalry Series, having eliminated both clashes in the last World Championship, including the final.
Canadian coach Troy Ryan was visibly disappointed.
We got the result we deserved.
We did not have a good start. We played offline. Our play in the central zone was not as efficient as usual and we could not realize our chances.
The game took place in front of 4,212 noisy spectators and spectators in Kingston, Ontario.
Canada struck twice in less than two minutes at the start of the second period.
The Canadians first took advantage of the game’s first power play to break the ice. Marie-Phillip Poulin, used at the point, went there with a wrist shot that deviated in heavy traffic in front of the net. It is a 75th goal in the uniform of the national team for the Beauceronne striker.
Less than two minutes later, Poulin’s companion, Sarah Fillier, found the back of the net by deflecting the shot from defender Micah Zandee-Hart on the fly. Fillier already has four goals in three games in this series.
Whether in games against the United States, Finland or the boys in Western Canada, head coach Troy Ryan builds a core often around two forwards and rotates to complete the line.
He appreciates the qualities of Fillier who seems able to produce no matter who she ends up with.
She is a player who has good skills and who is able to play with speed. We have the impression that she has more and more confidence in herself. We have seen it progress during the worlds and almost daily during centralization.
Captain Marie-Phillip Poulin enjoys the play of the young Ontario forward.
You could say she’s a rookie playing like a veteran. She is a very dynamic player. We saw her earlier with Mélodie Daoust and Natalie Spooner, it had been good. There she is playing with us and things are going well too.
The Americans came out strong early in the third, scoring two goals in less than two minutes in their turn.
After watching Hayley Scamurra close the gap to one goal, it was America’s most experienced player Hilary Knight who brought everyone back to square one with her first goal of the series. It was then she who gave the victory to hers in overtime.
