Canada prevails vs. rival Team USA to win women's hockey gold at Beijing Olympics

Canada defeated archrival Team USA to win women's ice hockey gold Thursday at the Beijing Olympics in the latest thrilling chapter of the sport's greatest rivalry.

Marie-Philip Poulin had two goals and an assist while goalie Ann-Renee Desbiens made 38 saves in Canada's 3-2 win. Hilary Knight and Amanda Kessel scored for the U.S.

This was the sixth meeting between the U.S. and Canada for Olympic women's ice hockey gold since the event was added in 1998. The Americans won twice (1998, 2018) while Canada has won gold five times — four times against the U.S. and against Sweden in 2006, when the U.S. settled for bronze.

Canada finished the tournament with an Olympic-record 57 goals scored. The Canadians previously defeated the Americans 4-2 in the preliminary round.

The Canadians appeared to take the lead 6:56 into the game on a Natalie Spooner goal, but U.S. coach Joel Johnson smartly challenged the play for an offside and video review confirmed it. Alas, it was a brief reprieve: Canada's Sarah Nurse deflected a Claire Thompson point shot past goalie Alex Cavallini for the 1-0 lead just 54 seconds later.

Poulin, who had a secondary assist on Nurse's goal, extended the lead to 2-0 with 4:58 left in the period. Poulin stole the puck from forward Kelly Pannek and floated a screened shot that snuck under Cavallini's arm for her fifth goal of the tournament.

It was the fourth straight game for the U.S. without a first-period goal. In the preliminary round, the Americans carried play in the first period with a 16-5 shot advantage. The shots were 11-11 in the first period here, with Canada carrying most of the play. U.S. center Hannah Brandt hit the post with a shot on Team USA's best chance of the period.

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