USA Beats Finland, Advances to 2022 Women's Olympic Hockey Gold Medal Game vs. Canada

For the fourth straight Winter Olympics, women's hockey will come down to a battle between the United States and Canada.

Hilary Knight, Cayla Barnes, Hayley Scamurra and Abby Roque scored goals and Alex Cavallini was sensational in the net, leading the United States to a 4-1 win over Finland in their semifinal matchup.

The U.S. will look to defend its gold medal from 2018 in PyeongChang, while Canada seeks revenge from its loss four years ago.

Since women's hockey was introduced as an Olympic sport in 1998, the United States and Canada have met five times in the finals. Canada has made the championship game for seven straight Olympics, while the United States have made it six times. Finland, which beat the U.S. in Turin 16 years ago on its way to silver, is the only other country to make the finals.

While the Fins came into Monday's semifinal hopeful to repeat the upset, they never got particularly close. Barnes lit the lamp early in the second period after a scoreless first, taking advantage of a power play off a pass from Hannah Brandt.

Knight moved into sole possession of second place on the all-time Olympic scorer's list with a goal later in the period. Her 26 points trail only Jenny Potter's 32 for the most among U.S. women's hockey players.

The third period was mostly a foregone conclusion, with Scamurra netting an insurance goal with less than five minutes remaining and then a wild final minute that featured a Susanna Tapani goal for Finland and Roque hitting an empty netter with five seconds left.

The United States and Canada already met once in these Olympics, with the Canadians pulling off a 4-2 victory. Canada has outscored its opponents by a jaw-dropping 46 goals, including a 10-3 romp over Switzerland in the semifinals.