Canada versus the United States just might be the greatest rivalry in hockey — on both the men’s and the women’s side of things.
It dates all the way back to the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium, when Canada beat the U.S. for the first gold medal in Olympic hockey history.
The two nations have faced each other 13 times in the Olympic gold medal game, including both the men and the women in Salt Lake City in 2002.
The rivalry means even more for the women, who, until last season, didn’t have a unified professional league. To them, international hockey was everything.
They now have the PWHL, which saw immense success in its first season, but the rivalry between Canada and the USA is not forgotten.
Hilary Knight and Grace Zumwinkle, who each scored two goals on Friday as the sides squared off at the Maverik Center, agreed after the game that this is the biggest rivalry in hockey.
“It’s such a special rivalry,” Knight said. “We really like to duke it out out there. It brings out the best in both teams, you get an elevated game, the fans have fun and we have a lot of fun competing.”
The game
Canada took a 1-0 lead early in the game courtesy of Laura Stacey, but Zumwinkle tipped a shot perfectly past Ann Renée Desbiens to tie it up before the end of the first period.
Marie Philip-Poulin lived up to her nickname, “Captain Clutch,” scoring short-handed at the start of the second period to make it 2-1 Canada.
Over the next half hour of playing time, Canada would score another two goals to take a commanding lead. With less than eight minutes left in the third period, Hayley Scamurra plastered Poulin into the boards in Canada’s zone, earning a five-minute major penalty and all hope seemed lost for the U.S.
Until Knight hit the ice.
Canada had taken a minor penalty to make it four-on-four, during which time the U.S. pulled its goalie for an extra attacker. Knight picked up a rebound in the slot and put it upstairs to bring the U.S. within two.
Zumwinkle scored her second shortly thereafter, followed by Knight’s second of the game.
Tie game, 1:26 to go.
Both teams survived the rest of regulation and the five-minute three-on-three overtime, so this one needed a shootout.
Shootouts in international hockey are different than those in the NHL. Rather than playing three rounds to start, they play five. Poulin, Canada’s second shooter, scored early. The U.S. failed to match for three consecutive rounds, after which then Chloe Primerano scored to secure the win for Team Canada.
Primerano, the youngest player on Canada’s roster and the only one from British Columbia, said she was given some advice before taking her shot.
“I was told to deke,” she said. “So I kind of just went in and tried it out and it worked.”
What’s next?
The best-of-five series is now tied at one win apiece. Team USA won the first match in the series 7-2 in San Jose on Wednesday.
The next game is on Sunday at Idaho Central Arena in Boise. After that, they head to the maritime provinces of Canada for a game in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on Thursday and another in Summerside, Prince Edward Island next Saturday.
Canada has won three of the four Rivalry Series tournaments thus far. In each of the last two seasons, they came back from a 3-0 deficit to win 4-3. It’s only a five-game series this year.