Canada defeated archrival Team USA to win women’s ice hockey gold Thursday at the Beijing Olympics in the latest thrilling chapter of the sport’s greatest rivalry.
Marie-Philip Poulin had two goals and an assist while goalie Ann-Renee Desbiens made 38 saves in Canada’s 3-2 win. Hilary Knight and Amanda Kessel scored for the U.S.
This was the sixth meeting between the U.S. and Canada for Olympic women’s ice hockey gold since the event was added in 1998. The Americans won twice (1998, 2018) while Canada has won gold five times — four times against the U.S. and against Sweden in 2006, when the U.S. settled for bronze.
Canada finished the tournament with an Olympic-record 57 goals scored. The Canadians previously defeated the Americans 4-2 in the preliminary round.
The Canadians appeared to take the lead 6:56 into the game on a Natalie Spooner goal, but U.S. coach Joel Johnson smartly…
