Canada beats U.S. in women's hockey 'Rivalry Rematch'

The competitiveness of the rematch befitted the rivalry, even if the ending was less than climactic.

Marie-Philip Poulin was credited with the winning goal 2 minutes and 13 seconds into overtime to lift the Canadian women’s hockey team to a 4-3 victory against Team USA in an exhibition dubbed the “Rivalry Rematch” on Saturday at PPG Paints Arena.

“Today was special,” said Poulin, who has three Olympic gold-medal winning goals on her sparkling international resume. “It was more than about a winner or loser — it was about women’s hockey.”

Saturday’s winning tally came as the result of Poulin throwing the puck to the front of the net and it deflecting off the skate of U.S. defenseman Megan Keller and into the net behind goalie Nicole Hensley.

Three-plus weeks after they’d met on the other side of the world to decide the Olympic gold medalists, the U.S. and Canadian teams stayed true to form in playing another close and spirited game between the two world powerhouses.

The sides played an NHL-style, 5-minute, 3-on-3 overtime to determine the winner. The hero ended up being the same one as for the Feb. 17 prior matchup in Beijing, China. Poulin had two goals in Team Canada’s 3-2 victory that claimed it gold for the fifth time since women’s ice hockey was added to the Olympic program in 1998.

That was the sixth time among seven Olympics the U.S. and Canada met in the gold-medal game.

While Saturday was just an exhibition — staged by the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association — the teams’ status as by far the two best collections of hockey talent in the world make it so the intensity level was not befitting that of your typical “friendly.”

Particularly in overtime and during the final minutes of regulation, the teams displayed a palpable sense of urgency and seemed to be playing a faster game, all while chants of “U-S-A” serenaded from an announced crowd of 5,410 on hand.

“Any time Canada plays the U.S., there’s always a bit of a rivalry going,” said Canada’s Blayre Turnbull, who had the game’s first goal. “And we definitely play with an edge when we paying against each other. So despite it not being an Olympic game or a world championship game, both teams came to play.”

Neither team had more than a one-goal lead. The Americans led for only a 24-second span of the third period — from when Hayley Scamurra flipped a well-placed wrist shot far side under the crossbar with 13:14 left in regulation until Jamie Lee Rattray tied it with a pretty shot of her own on the next shift.

Hannah Brandt and Scamurra each had a goal and an assist, Hilary Knight also scored and Keller had two assists for Team USA, which has lost the past five to their northern rivals.

Seven of the past 10 meetings, though, have been decided by one goal.

“It’s always there (that) you never want to lose to them,” said Team USA forward Amanda Kessel, the younger sister of former Penguins star Phil. “It’s giving everything you have every time you step on the ice with them.”

The shots on goal were even at 25 when Poulin’s attempted pass ended up in the net to end the game.

Canada’s Jocelyne Larocque had a goal and two assists.

Though the stakes weren’t as high as the previous meeting, the atmosphere was better because the Beijing Olympics were contested without fans out of concerns related to covid-19.

“Hockey is such an amazing sport to be able to share it with the masses, so it was great after not having that (in person) for so long,” Knight said.

“What an incredible crowd. Obviously, Pittsburgh showed up for us. Hopefully we can continue this on and continue the momentum for women’s hockey.”