Canada, U.S. set to renew rivalry in Women’s Worlds preliminary round meeting
Published
Archrivals Canada and the United States add another chapter to their storied rivalry as they battle in the preliminary round at the Women’s World Championship Sunday afternoon in Czechia.
Watch the showdown LIVE Sunday afternoon at 1:00pm ET/10:00am PT on TSN3, TSN.ca and the TSN App.
Each country is out to a 2-0 start to the tournament, with Canada picking up shutout wins against Finland on Thursday and Switzerland Friday. The U.S. beat Finland on Wednesday and host Czechia two days later.
Jennifer Gardiner led the way for Canada against the Finns with two goals and three points. Ella Shelton and Marie-Philip Poulin each tallied a goal and an assist, while Kristen Campbell stopped all 24 shots she faced in the 5-0 victory.
On Friday, four different players scored and Poulin had three assists in the 4-0 win over Switzerland. Ann-Renee Desbiens recorded a 17-save shutout.
The three helpers pushed Poulin’s lifetime Women’s Worlds point total to 82, just four shy of Hayley Wickenheiser’s Canadian tournament record for points (86).
Canada and the U.S. went the distance in their most recent Rivalry Series running from Nov. 6 to Feb. 8, with the Canadians winning the deciding Game 5, 3-1, in Prince Edward Island.
Head coach Troy Ryan said after Friday’s win over Switzerland that his team needs to be prepared for any type of game they might find themselves in against the Americans.
"When I look at sort of the last, probably 10 or 12 games that we played against them, they all look different in some capacity," Ryan said.
"Either we've got to dictate the game or we've got to roll with it a little bit to try to stop it from rolling over us.
"It's weird. It's hard to figure it out to be honest. We've won with physicality, we've won with offence and we've won with defence. God knows what this one will end up like. We'll see."
After Sunday’s matchup against the U.S., Canada will wrap up round-robin Pool A play on Monday against Czechia. The quarter-finals of the tournament begin Thursday, with the semis and finals going back-to-back days on April 19th and 20th.
Canada and the U.S. have met in each of the previous four gold medal games at the Women's Worlds with Canada emerging victorious in 2021, 2022 and last year.