Canada's 'Captain Clutch' Does It Again as USA Forced to Settle for Olympic Silver

Repeating as gold medalists wasn't meant to be for the United States, which took home silver behind Canada for the fourth time in Olympic women’s ice hockey history.

The United States found itself in a 3-0 hole in the first 30 minutes of Thursday's game. Two of Canada’s three goals came from none other than Canada’s "captain clutch" Marie-Philip Poulin. The 30-year-old forward is the only Olympian to score in four Olympic gold-medal games, and she scored the game-winning goal for the Canadians each of the past three times Canada has beaten the USA in the final.

Starting Slow

It’s a tall task to come back against any team, let alone one Canada's caliber.

"We can’t get down that many goals," said Hilary Knight, referring to the 3-0 deficit the USA faced until her shorthanded goal in the second period.

A late goal by Amanda Kessel made it interesting, but the U.S. couldn’t find an equalizer. The Americans quite simply ran out of time. 

"I've seen us practice, I've seen us play, I've seen us put together 60 minutes and that just wasn't it," said Knight. "I think if you saw the best of the best, the score would be different. At the end of the day, those are sports, and you have to give them credit because they played a better 60 minutes total than we did." 

Shots on goals were even at 11 a side after the first period, but the USA was already down 2-0. It would go on to outshoot Canada 40-21, but it just couldn't find the back of the net enough. 

"We played too many games in the tournament where we weren't able to score in the first period, and that catches up to you," said USA head coach Joel Johnson. "So (it's) difficult to take when I thought, overall, we played pretty well."

Overcoming Obstacles

Despite falling short, the USA remains proud of how it competed, especially given all the adversity it faced.

"I think the way we played today showed the fight, the grit, the resiliency, and the adversity this group has faced and has overcome these last three years, six months, and two weeks," USA captain Kendall Coyne Schofield said. 

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Following coaching changes and injuries—amid a global pandemic, no less—the USA earned the right to defend its gold medal from 2018. After the sting of the loss wanes, getting to the gold-medal game will be something the team can forever be proud of accomplishing. That said, some of the players still have a larger fight to wage—the visibility of the sport in between Olympic competitions. 

There's More to Women's Hockey Than the Olympics

On the international stage, the United States and Canadian women's teams are the fiercest of rivals. Once they return to North America, though, they stand side-by-side in the fight for more professional opportunities for women's hockey players. 

"There's a lot of young girls watching back home," said Coyne Schofield through tears. "Women's hockey cannot be silent after these two weeks. They need to be able to see themselves in us and it can't be silent. It can't be invisible because it's not the Olympic Games." 

Nearly all the players in the gold-medal game are either still in college or playing in the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association (PWHPA)—only Alex Carpenter and Megan Bozek play elsewhere. The PWHPA, a loose barnstorming brand of women's hockey, differs from the Premier Hockey Federation, formally known as the National Women's Hockey League (NWHL), where six teams in six different North American cities compete for the final prize of a league championship and the Isobel Cup. 

The debate as to whether the PHF or the PWHPA will be the "one league" to win the wallet of the National Hockey League wages on. Despite where one lands on the issue, Coyne Schofield's words ring true to most who love women's hockey and would watch more of it if only they could. Nationally televised games are few and far between, but to no fault of the players. 

The next PWHPA showcase takes place February 26-27 in Ottawa. The PHF returns to action this weekend at Tria Rink in St. Paul, Minnesota. 

Author’s Note: Erica L. Ayala is a women’s hockey commentator and is in her sixth season calling games for the rebranded PHF.