MILAN — Marie-Philip Poulin won't dispute how good the Americans have looked in romping through the women's hockey tournament at the Milan Cortina Games. And Canada's captain will readily acknowledge her team has yet to come close to playing its best.
What's matters to Poulin, who continues building upon her “Captain Clutch” reputation in her fifth Olympic Games, is having the opportunity to play in a one-game showdown with the gold medal on the line on Thursday.
“Obviously, we know they’re a talented team, a skilled team. They’ve had a lot of success this year, obviously against us, and we’re all aware of that,” Poulin said. “For us as a group, it’s going to be all about us, all about our heart and everything we’re going to put on that ice.”
The U.S. and Canada will face off for Olympic gold for a seventh time since women’s hockey debuted at the 1998 Nagano Games in a rivalry between the sport's two global powers that never gets old.
And this time, the Americans are the favorites.
The U.S. clinched its berth with a 5-0 win over Sweden in semifinal play on Monday. And the defending champion Canadians followed with Poulin scoring twice to set the Olympic career goal record in a too-close-for-comfort 2-1 victory over Switzerland.
For the Americans, it didn’t matter who they faced in a tournament they’ve dominated by going 6-0 and outscoring their opponents by a combined margin of 31-1.
“We’ve played them quite a few times, so obviously, won’t be surprised,” defender Lee Stecklein said. “Whoever we face, we’ve got to be ready for that challenge.”
Goalie Aerin Frankel stopped 21 shots for her third shutout of the tournament, and the Americans blew the game open with Abbey Murphy, Kendall Coyne Schofield and Hayley Scamurra scoring on consecutive shots over a 2:47 span late in the second period. Cayla Barnes opened the scoring and Taylor Heise also scored.
The U.S. has yet to trail or be tied after 0-0, and in position to become the third women’s team to do so over the entire tournament, joining Canada in 2006 and 2010. The Americans also extended their shutout streak to 331 minutes, 23 seconds, going back to Czechia’s Barbora Jurickova beating Frankel on a breakaway in the second period of a tournament-opening 5-1 win.
“I think we’re looking incredible. The whole tournament we’ve really been consistent,” Scamurra said. “I don’t even think we’re at the peak, but I think our peak is getting that gold medal in hand for sure.”
The Canadians’ performance has been left open to questions and concerns.
Aside from eking out a win over Switzerland, the defending Olympic champions dropped a 5-0 decision to the U.S. in the preliminary round — an outing Poulin missed due to a right knee injury.
The outcome marked the first time Canada has been shut out and its most lopsided loss in Olympic play. The Americans also hold the edge by having won seven straight dating to beating Canada twice at the world championships in April.
“I personally love the underdog mentality,” Canadian defender Renata Fast said.
“There’s been a lot of noise on the outside, but there’s has been tons of belief in the locker room and we’ve gone through a ton of adversity this year,” she added. “This is the moment we have been fighting for is to play for gold. And no better matchup than to play Team USA. I’m so excited and excited to see the fight that this group brings.”
Against Switzerland, Poulin opened the scoring 1:49 into the second period by skipping a shot from between the circles that bounced and banked in off goalie Andrea Braendli’s stick. She made it 2-0 some 6 1/2 minutes later by converting a rebound.
Poulin now has 20 career goals and broke the record of 18 held by former teammate and Hockey Hall of Famer Hayley Wickenheiser.
Ann-Renee Desbiens stopped seven shots.
Rahel Enzler scored for Switzerland 4:53 into the third period. Braendli, coming off a 40-save outing in a 1-0 quarterfinal win over Finland, finished with 44 saves.
Now it’s on to the gold medal game with U.S. seeking its third title after winning in 1998 and 2018, and the Canadians their sixth.
“Nothing matters. It’s the gold medal game,” Heise said of a potential rematch against Canada. “Obviously, I’m going to say we’ve done great and we’ve had great success. You want to take that confidence and motivation, but you want to move forward. We’re going to look for us and we’re going do what we need to do on Thursday and hopefully come on top.”
And it could very well be the last meeting between the two teams' long-time stars: Poulin, nicknamed "Captain Clutch," and U.S. captain Hilary Knight, who has already announced these will be her fifth and final Olympics.
Sweden and Switzerland will play for bronze in a rematch of their meeting at the 2014 Sochi Games. Switzerland won 4-3 to win its first and only women’s hockey medal.
The Swedes are seeking to win their third Olympic medal, and first since winning silver at the 2006 Turin Games after upsetting the U.S. in the semifinals.
Ebba Svensson Traff stopped 19 of 23 shots before she was pulled after Coyne Schofield tipped in Laila Edwards’ shot from the blue line with 3:50 left in the second period. Emma Soderberg took over, allowing a goal on 11 shots.
Though the Swedes kept the game close through 35 minutes, the Americans eventually wore them down.
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