BRAMPTON, Ontario :Hilary Knight scored third-period power play goals 27 seconds apart as the United States stunned archrivals Canada 6-3 on Sunday to win the gold medal final of the women's world ice hockey championships.Canada had led 3-2 heading into the third period and were on course for a third successive world title but threw it away with sloppy play, taking two late penalties to gift the U.S.
a two-player advantage with 3:52 left.Knight made them pay dearly for their mistakes.After Caroline Harvey had pulled the U.S.
level at 3-3 early in the third, captain Knight scored twice to complete her hat-trick having also netted in the second period.Cayla Barnes scored into an empty net to close out the scoring while Abbey Murphy also had a goal.Brianne Jenner had a hand in all three Canada goals, scoring twice in the second-period and setting up Marie-Philip Poulin for another, but it was her tripping penalty, along with Claire Thompson's delay of game, that provided the U.S.
with their golden opportunity."It takes a whole village for one player to be successful on the ice," said Knight, the U.S. all-time leading scorer at the world championships with 101 points. "It's a huge honour to lead this team but the day-to-day business hasn't changed."It's hard to beat Canada.