After three failed strength matches from Canada, the Americans broke the ice on their first chance with another player.
Megan Keeler’s shot deflected twice before finishing behind Anne Rene Despens. It was Hilary Knight who scored her third goal in a row. She scored the equalizer and the winning goal on Sunday in Kingston.
A few minutes later, the Americans found themselves 5v3 and took advantage of that. Amanda Kessel completed a perfect tic-tac-toe operation. She took advantage of quick passes from Alex Carpenter and Johnsey Dunn.
The Canadians’ repeated efforts late in the third inning, including a solid two-minute play with a sixth player on the ice, weren’t enough.
The countdown to Beijing has begun
Canadian coach Troy Ryan has continued to experiment with different formulations on his lines, only to continue to assess and see where the chemistry appears to take hold within the different units.
Thus, after playing alongside Mary Philippe Boleyn, Canada’s top scorer, Sarah Feller returned to the heart of veterans, Melody Doust and Natalie Spooner.
It was Victoria Bach who had the opportunity to join Pauline and Brian Jenner in the first trio.
Five clashes remained between the two teams before the Olympics. The two teams will meet in the US Midwest in December, then in Alberta for two finals in early January.
In Beijing, Canada will be part of a group with the United States, Finland, Switzerland and the country whose name must remain silent, the country whose flag and national anthem are still suspended from the Games …
All of these teams are already guaranteed to participate in the quarter-finals.
In the second group, we find China, Japan, the Czech Republic and Denmark, which are participating in the Games for the first time.
The top three in the group standings will advance to the quarter-finals.
