U.S. Women’s Ice Hockey Faces Canada in Potential Gold Medal Match Preview originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Heading into the 2022 Winter Olympics, it was anticipated that the United States and Canada would be the last two teams standing to fight for the gold medal in women’s ice hockey.
With the preliminary round about to wrap up, it’s clearer than ever that it likely will be those two yet again playing in the gold medal game.
The U.S. and Canada face off against each other in the preliminary round finale. Both are 3-0 in group play, holding wins over Finland, the Russian Olympic Committee and Switzerland. All five members of Group A are guaranteed a spot in the quarterfinals, so the only thing at stake, outside of bragging rights, is seeding for the U.S. and Canada.
Faceoff is set for Monday at 11:10 p.m. EST.
How has the U.S. performed at the 2022 Olympics?
The Americans are coming off back-to-back shutouts heading into their matchup with the rivals north of the border. They most recently handled Switzerland with ease in an 8-0 win and previously beat the ROC 5-0 and Finland 5-2.
Hilary Knight (three goals, two assists), Amanda Kessel (two goals, three assists) and Savannah Harmon (one goal, four assists) are all tied for the team lead in points with five.
Knight is also tied with teammates Alex Carpenter and Jesse Compher for the team lead in goals, with three.
Goaltenders Nicole Hensley and Alex Cavallini each have recorded shutouts while Maddie Rooney got the win against Finland.
The team has outscored the competition 18-2 so far.
How has Canada performed at the 2022 Olympics?
Canada has steamrolled the competition these Games, outscoring opponents 29 to 3 in just three games.
The team started out with a 12-2 win over Switzerland before rolling over Finland 11-1. Canada is coming off a 6-1 victory against the ROC.
The top eight point scorers in the tournament all belong to the Canadian team and nine of the top 10 are Canadians. Leading the way is Natalie Spooner with 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in three games. Behind her is Sarah Nurse with seven points and then there are five players with six points, including Sarah Fillier, who leads the tournament in goals with five.
Ann-Renee Desbiens has started two games in net, allowing two goals on 42 shots against. Emerance Maschmeyer started the game against the ROC.
What is the record between the two teams at the Olympics?
This is the seventh Winter Olympics with women’s ice hockey. In that span, Canada holds a close 5-3 advantage. The two have met five times for the gold medal game with Canada holding a 3-2 lead in those games. Canada also has won a gold medal against Sweden.
Who won the last time the two teams met?
Canada and the U.S. met in the gold medal match of the 2018 Winter Olympics, where the U.S. won 3-2 in a shootout.
The U.S. hopped out to a 1-0 lead in the first before Canada struck twice in the second to take a 2-1 goal into the final 20 minutes. The U.S. tied the game early in the third and it remained knotted after the end of regulation.
No one scored in the OT period, forcing the game to be decided by a shootout. It took six rounds, where Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson deked around Canadian goalie Shannon Szabados to pull the Americans ahead. Meghan needed to score to keep Canada’s hope for a gold alive, but Maddie Rooney denied the five-hole attempt to give the U.S. their first gold in women’s ice hockey since 1998 in Nagano.
