Canada Hold Off USA to Win Women's Hockey Gold Medal in 2022 Winter Olympics

Canada's women's hockey team is back on top of the sport.

The Canadians defeated the rival United States 3-2 in Wednesday's gold-medal matchup at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Marie-Philip Poulin, Sarah Nurse and goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens led the way for the victors and helped their side reclaim the gold medal it won in the 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014 Games.

Hilary Knight and Amanda Kessel scored for the Americans, but it wasn't enough for back-to-back Olympic glory.

Poulin was dominant in a gold-medal game once again with two goals and an assist, while Nurse tallied a goal and assist for two points of her own. Their offense was enough thanks to Desbiens, who turned in an all-time clutch performance between the pipes while the United States created a 40-21 advantage in shots on goal.

Few things seemed as inevitable in the entire Olympics than these two nations facing off for the title.

After all, they have played each other in the gold-medal game in six of the seven tournaments since women's hockey was added to the Olympics in 1998. Canada wasted little time establishing itself as the gold standard, but the United States was the reigning champion coming into Wednesday's matchup.

Still, Canada figured to have plenty of confidence after defeating the Americans 4-2 in a preliminary round game. Desbiens was excellent in that one and had the chance to lead her team to gold with a repeat performance.

She took center stage again in the opening period by turning away each of the United States' shot attempts. Meanwhile, her offense staked her to a quick lead.

Even though Natalie Spooner's goal in the first seven minutes was overturned for offside upon review, Canada continued to control the early scoring opportunities and took advantage after a faceoff when Nurse found the back of the net.

Poulin assisted that first goal and then did it all herself for the second one by stripping the puck away and scoring on a wrist shot. It was a poorly timed turnover from the defense, but American goaltender Alex Cavallini's struggles in the first period were on full display when she failed to stop the ensuing shot.

It was also more of the same for the dominant Poulin, who scored her sixth goal in a gold-medal game with the first one. Her seventh extended the lead to 3-0 in the second period when she buried a rebound on a two-on-one break. Nurse was credited with one of the assists as the pair continued to deliver in the biggest moments.It was also more of the same for the dominant Poulin, who scored her sixth goal of a gold-medal game with the first one and her seventh when she extended the lead to 3-0 in the second period by burying a rebound on a two-on-one break. Nurse was credited with one of the assists as the pair continued to deliver in the biggest moments.

The assist gave Nurse an Olympic-record 18th point in this year's Games.

The game looked all but over at that point, but Knight was fittingly the one who got the Americans back within striking distance with a short-handed goal when things were slipping away.

If nothing else, it gave the Red, White and Blue some momentum that they built on with an onslaught of pressure and scoring chances. Yet Desbiens stood strong with a little help from the post and maintained Canada's two-goal lead heading into crunch time.

Any lingering momentum faded for the United States when it failed to convert on a power play in the final 10 minutes, and the frustration began to grow with every Desbiens save.

The Americans had one final power play in the last two minutes, but the theme of Canada's defense and goaltender turning them away continued until Kessel scored with 13.5 seconds remaining. Unfortunately for her side, it came just a little too late for a comeback.