Canada beats US 3-2 to cut Americans' Rivalry Series lead to 3-1
Canada's Marie-Philip Poulin, front, scores against United States goaltender Nicole Hensley, back, during a shootout in a Rivalry Series hockey game in Sarnia, Ontario, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023. Credit: AP/Geoff Robins
SARNIA, Ontario — Marie-Philip Poulin scored the lone shootout goal, Ann-Renée Desbiens made 22 save sand Canada beat the United States 3-2 on Saturday night to cut the Americans' Rivalry Series lead to 3-1.
Canada overcame a two-goal deficit in the third period, with Danielle Serdachny scoring with 9:54 left and Ella Shelton tying it with 7:21 remaining.
“This team has a lot of character and we showed that today,” Desbiens said. “It would have been easy to give up when we were down by two and down 3-0 in the series, but it was important for us to get a win in front of Canadian fans.”
Megan Keller opened the scoring for the United States with a short-handed goal at 8:19 of the second period. Alex Carpenter made it 2-0 at 4:46 of the third.
“The game was such a back-and-forth contest,” U.S. coach John Wroblewski said. “It was a physical contest and a classic U.S.-Canada game.”
Nicole Hensley stopped 24 shots for the Americans.
On Thursday night in Kitchener, U.S. captain Hilary Knight scored on a power play 28 seconds into overtime to give Americans a 3-2 victory.
Canada's Blayre Turnbull and United States' Megan Keller vie for control of the puck in front of U.S goalie Nicole Hensley during a Rivalry Series hockey game in Sarnia, Ontario, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023. Credit: AP/Geoff Robins
“Our team had a nice response tonight," Canadian coach Troy Ryan said. "We have to give a lot of credit to Ann-Renée because she kept us in the game and gave us a chance to come back.”
The U.S. opened the series last month with a 3-1 victory in Tempe, Arizona, and a 5-2 decision in Los Angeles. The series shifts to Saskatchewan for games in Saskatoon on Feb. 7 and Regina on Feb. 9. Game 7 is set for St. Paul, Minnesota, on Feb. 11.
