Hilary Knight, USA Win Women's Hockey World Championship 2023 Gold Medal vs. Canada

Team USA is the new global champion of women's hockey.

Captain Hilary Knight scored a hat trick to lift Team USA to a 6-3 victory during the IIHF Women's World Championship game on Sunday in Brampton, Ontario.

Knight called her team "underdogs" heading into the championship game. Canada has claimed victory in the rivals' last three gold-medal tilts, including two Women's World Championships and the 2022 Olympics.

For the first time since 2019, it will now be Americans defending the world title.

The United States now owns an all-time record of 17 wins (13 regulation, four overtime) and 17 losses (seven regulation, 10 in overtime) against Canada in Women's World Championship play.

First period

A glass-rattling run by Knight into the boards set an early physical tone, and the rivals traded chances until overlapping penalties by Team USA gave Canadian power-play quarterback Erin Ambrose plenty of room to set up the always-dangerous Marie-Philip Poulin on her off side.

Captain Canada one-timed the puck home on the five-on-three, earning salutes from the crowd as she celebrated the 103rd international goal of her career.

Team USA, which repeatedly created rush opportunities from lead passes off the boards, had one payoff for the third line with two minutes left in the frame.

A long bounce pass from Alex Carpenter sent Abbey Murphy walking into the zone for a one-on-one battle with Ambrose. Murphy dragged the puck back, outwaited the sliding defender and snapped a short-side goal past Canadian goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens to tie the game at one.

Second period

The United States' tournament-best power play got to work after a tripping penalty early in the second. However, the Americans couldn't capitalize on a broken stick from Ambrose, and the Canadians stormed down the other way.

Team USA goaltender Aerin Frankel weathered a barrage of shots before Brianne Jenner, who contributed to each of Team Canada's last three gold-medal goals, scored.

Team USA restored the tie after the team's two most dangerous scorers broke out on a two-on-one rush. Amanda Kessel fed Knight in front of the net, where she bounced the puck up and over Desbiens.

One minute and nine seconds later, no one from Team USA marked Jenner as she planted herself at the edge of the paint.

Jenner paid them back by tipping home her second goal of the night, marking her second straight two-goal WWC final. Team USA headed into the break in the hole once again, 3-2.

Third period

Team Canada sent a shot ringing off the crossbar on an early power-play opportunity, but it was 20-year-old University of Wisconsin defender Caroline Harvey who was next to score. Harvey, who led Team USA with 13 points heading into the game, tied the game at 3-3 with a hard shot from behind the circle.

Frankel, the first U.S. women's goaltender to earn five straight international starts in at least 26 years, fought off an opportunity from Jenner alone in front of the net to keep the contest tied with 10 minutes left.

The tipping point came when, with four minutes seconds remaining, a tripping call followed by a delay-of-game penalty on Canada presented Team USA with a five-on-three power play.

Knight wired a shot through the Canadian crowd to score.

Less than one minute later, Knight tipped a shot from Harvey past Desbiens for the hat trick. Caps rained down on the ice as Team USA took a 5-3 lead with under three minutes remaining.

An empty-net goal sealed the 6-3 comeback victory and put Team USA back on top of the rivalry with the team's first international championship since 2019.