Determined and desperate, Canada captain Poulin wills her team back to another Olympic final

Minutes before the puck dropped on Canada's semifinal Olympic women's hockey game against Switzerland, the cameras on the broadcast showed Marie-Philip Poulin travelling to the ice on a golf cart.

Grimacing, the captain looked to be in discomfort as she sat beside Swiss goaltender Andrea Brändli, who would frustrate the Canadians all game long. Only Poulin would be able to put the puck past her.

Poulin injured her knee earlier in the Olympics, keeping her out of her team's preliminary-round games against the United States and Finland.

But it wouldn't keep her out of the tournament, and it wouldn't stop her from hunting, clawing and fighting for her fourth Olympic gold medal.

Even as she looked to be in pain on the bench, Poulin has played with desperation and hunger. It was the captain who smothered a German breakaway with a backcheck in the quarterfinals.

And in the semifinals, it was Poulin who scored the only two goals Canada needed to defeat the Swiss, 2-1. On the second, she scored as she fell to her feet, willing the puck into the net with her heart as much as her stick.

Canada to play the U.S. for Olympic women's hockey gold after squeaking by Swiss in the semis

In the process, she took hold of the all-time goal scoring record at the Olympics, surpassing her former teammate, Hayley Wickenheiser.

"I’m surrounded with such a great team, honestly," the always-humble Poulin said after the game.

You see the big goals on the biggest stages, but what people don't see is the work behind the scenes that Poulin puts in to come up big in these moments. It's not just the clutch gene that's in her DNA.

"I know we all know it, but she shines in moments like this," assistant captain Renata Fast said. "It’s the work she puts in