Abbey Murphy's hat trick leads U.S. women past Canada in Rivalry Series opener

Taylor Heise scored and set up each of Abbey Murphy's three goals, and the United States women's national hockey team opened the pre-Olympic Rivalry Series with a 4-1 win over Canada on Thursday night.

Laila Edwards had an assist in her Cleveland homecoming, with her shot from the right point deflected in by Heise midway through the first period. The 21-year-old Edwards is a forward-turned-defenceman from Cleveland Heights, and the first Black female player to skate for Team USA.

Projected U.S. starter Aerin Frankel stopped 26 shots, and the Americans have won three straight against their cross-border rival. The run dates to a two-game sweep of Canada at the world championships in the Czech Republic in April, including a 4-3 overtime win in the title game.

Sarah Fillier scored for Canada. Eve Gascon stopped 22 shots in her Canadian national team debut. The University of Minnesota-Duluth junior got the start with coach Troy Ryan going with a younger lineup. Canada left several veterans at home to rest up, including goalie Ann-Renee Desbiens.

Abbey Murphy's hat trick leads U.S. past Canada in Rivalry Series opener

The teams meet again in Buffalo, N.Y., on Saturday. The four-game series between the global powers then concludes with two games in Edmonton, Alberta, next month.

While the Americans are the defending world champs, the Canadians are the defending Olympic champions, winning their fifth gold at the 2022 Beijing Games.

After Fillier and Heise traded goals 16 seconds apart, the Americans then blew the game open in the second period when Murphy one-timed in a pair of Heise passes. Murphy then completed her hat trick by tipping in Heise's pass through the middle for a power-play goal 1:54 into the third period.

Edwards