KITCHENER, Ont. — Captain Hilary Knight scored the overtime winner as the United States women’s national hockey team improved to 3-0 in its Rivalry Series with a 3-2 win over Canada on Thursday.
Knight, who also produced an assist, scored on the power play with a one-timer past Canada goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens 28 seconds into the extra period after Emily Clark took a penalty late in the third.
Taylor Heise and Abbey Murphy assisted on the game-winning goal at Kitchener Memorial Auditorium.
Murphy and Kirsten Simms also scored for the U.S., while netminder Aerin Frankel stopped 32 shots to fend off the Canadians.
“I thought our team got stronger as the game went on,” said U.S. head coach John Wroblewski. “We had a lot of youth and speed out there tonight and I’m proud of how we worked.”
Danielle Serdachny and Clark had the goals for Canada, which outshot the Americans a combined 26-9 in the second and third periods. Desbiens finished with 19 saves.
Serdachny opened the scoring at 7:44 of the first to get Canada on the board at home.
"It was pretty cool to see the puck go in and the crowd react," she said. "It was a great environment to play in, and it had the feeling of a world championship in Canada."
The Americans responded with goals from Simms and Murphy before the end of the period.
Clark evened the score 6:58 into the second but Frankel was perfect the rest of the way.
Canada went 0-for-5 on the power play, while the U.S. was 1-for-4 after Knight's winner.
“I thought our first period was a little sloppy and we were not patient with the puck, but I thought the team responded well," said Canada head coach Troy Ryan. "I thought we carried the play for the final 40 minutes, and we were competing harder and were having an easier time breaking out of our zone.
"Unfortunately, it was a tough way to lose the game (on the penalty kill).”
The Americans won 3-1 in Tempe, Ariz., and 5-2 in Los Angeles last month to open the seven-game series.
They’ve now won four straight games over Canada dating back to their 6-3 win in the gold-medal game of April’s world championships.
The teams next meet in Sarnia, Ont., on Saturday before the series shifts to Saskatchewan for games in Saskatoon and Regina on Feb. 7 and 9. Game 7 takes place in St. Paul. Minn., on Feb. 11.
The Rivalry Series is a lead-up to the world championships, which will be held in Utica, N.Y., from April 3-14.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 14, 2023.
The Canadian Press
