TROIS-RIVIÈRES, Que. — Circle Wednesday on the calendar if you enjoy do-or-die showdowns between acrimonious rivals.
After dropping the first three games of the seven-game national women's Rivalry Series to the United States, Canada has bounced back with three consecutive wins, including Monday night's 5-1 victory at the sold-out Colisee Videotron.
The seventh and deciding game will be played Wednesday at Place Bell in Laval, Que.
Sarah Nurse opened the scoring for Canada on Family Day with a goal at 3:06 of the first period, with Brianne Jenner and Rebecca Johnston drawing assists.
Johnston, who has dominated the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association this season with 17 points in 11 games, returned to the Canadian lineup on Monday.
Eighteen seconds later Laura Stacey scored to give Canada a 2-0 lead. Emily Clark earned an assist.
In the third period Claire Thompson put Canada up 3-0 at 10:21, then Brianne Jenner (16:28) and Marie-Philip Poulin (18:55) scored empty-net goals to seal the deal for Canada.
With the late goal, Poulin became the fifth player to record 200 Team Canada points, joining Hayley Wickenheiser, Jayna Hefford, Caroline Ouellette and Danielle Goyette. She just needs three more goals to become the fourth player to score 100 times.
Canadian netminder Ann-Renee Desbiens stopped 14 of 15 shots for the win. Aerin Frankel stopped 27 of 32 shots in the U.S. net.
SERIES RECAP: The U.S. won Game 1 in Kelowna, B.C. on Nov. 15 (2022), 4-3 in a shootout; the U.S. won Game 2 in Kamloops, B.C. on Nov. 17 (2022) 2-1; the U.S. won Game 3 in Seattle, Wash., on Nov. 20 (2022) 4-2; Canada won Game 4 in Henderson, Nev., on Dec. 15 (2022) 3-2; Canada won Game 5 in Los Angeles, Calif., on Dec. 19 (2022) 3-2 in overtime.
BRAMPTON WELCOMES WORLD
The IIHF women's world hockey championship is returning to Ontario for the first time since 2013 when Brampton plays host April 5-16.
It will be the fifth time Ontario hosts the worlds — Ottawa did it in 1990 and 2013, Kitchener hosted in 1997, and Mississauga rolled out the welcome mat in 2000.
CAPTAIN SKIPS TRIP
Veteran U.S. captain Kendall Coyne Schofield, who had a goal and three assists in the first five games of the Rivalry Series, did not join her teammates for the games in Quebec.
SPECIAL HONOURS
Canadian captain Marie-Philip Poulin was honoured Monday night for winning the Northern Star Award (Canadian Athlete of the Year) and The Canadian Press Female Athlete of the Year award.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 20, 2023.
The Canadian Press
