The USA and Canada are once again having a tough fight in the women’s Olympic ice hockey final. This time the US team triumphs again. Icons say goodbye on both sides.
The US women are ice hockey Olympic champions for the third time. The USA won against Canada with record player Marie-Philip Poulin 2-1 (0-0, 0-1, 1-0) after extra time. In the eternal final duel between the arch-rivals, US icon Hilary Knight shot the US team into extra time two minutes before the end of the game, where Megan Keller shot in the fifth minute of overtime. Switzerland had previously won bronze after beating Sweden 2-1 after extra time.
The USA had entered the final in Milan as favorites with an Olympic record five games in a row without conceding a goal, but had to fight hard for their third Olympic victory after 1998 and 2018. Kristin O’Neill (21st) gave Canada the lead when they were outnumbered. The US team was lucky with six minutes left when Britta Curl was only given a two-minute penalty after a board check against the best Canadian defender Erin Ambrose. Ambrose couldn’t continue playing after that.
Only once another team in the women’s final
Only once has a nation other than Canada and the USA made it to the final at the Winter Olympics: in 2006, Sweden won silver. The final marked the end of an era on both sides. It was the last game at the Winter Olympics for both the most successful player in history, Canada’s Poulin (34), and Knight (36).
Knight had previously caused a stir with a marriage proposal to US speed skater Brittany Bowe, which she made public on Instagram. Poulin was unable to extend her own Olympic record in Milan: she had scored at least one goal in each of the four previous Olympic finals.
dpa
