It was Canada-USA, so of course it needed overtime.
And then, with fewer than two minutes remaining in sudden-death extra time, American forward Kirsten Simms fired one past Team Canada goalie Ann-Renee Desbiens to give Team USA a 1-0 win over the rival Canadians, closing out preliminary play at the women’s world championships in Utica, N.Y., with an absolute bang for the home team.
The defending-champion Americans are now the top seed headed into Thursday’s quarterfinals, while Canada is No. 2.
After Simms saw that puck go in on Monday night, the 19-year-old got down for a low fist-pump, and the crowd roared with their “USA! USA! USA!” chants at a packed Adirondack Bank Center.
This game started with a big hit that sent American veteran Kendall Coyne-Schofield flying into the end boards. It ended with Canadian Captain Marie-Phillip Poulin, so often the one scoring clutch goals, playing defence on a 3-on-1 against a line of American rookies who delivered the winner and the only goal of the night.
When it was over, Team USA coach John Wroblewski fist-pumped and banged the glass behind the bench, with one leg in the air.
Yes, winning this preliminary match is big. Team USA already had home-ice advantage, and it now has the momentum ahead of what will likely be a repeat matchup against Canada in the gold-medal final on Sunday afternoon, where the Americans will look to defend the title they won a year ago in Brampton, Ont.
Here are some takeaways from Monday night’s game:
Clutch Simms
Simms is making her debut on the international stage as a member of Team USA’s senior squad, and what a time she picked for her first goal at the world championships, in overtime, to beat Canada.
Simms may be new to this stage, but she’s no stranger to game-winning goals. As a sophomore at Wisconsin this past season, she had eight game-winners. And last year as a freshman, Simms scored the game-winner for the Badgers in the national championship.
The winner against Canada came after Canadian forward Brianne Jenner was carrying the puck deep in the American zone, and she was taken down (no penalty was called). Team USA forward Caroline Harvey picked up the puck and took it the other way, for a 3-on-1 against Canadian captain Marie-Philip Poulin, who’s used to being on the offensive side of those situations, and used to being the one to score the clutch winner.
Harvey streaked down the left wing, and Simms delayed a little to stay high in the middle. Simms got the pass, paused, then fired it low and past Desbiens.
There were seven shots in overtime, all from Team USA, including two solid chances from Alex Carpenter, before Simms struck with the winner.
Tres bien Desbiens and Frankel
Both goalies earned Player of the Game awards, and for good reason. And though she earned the loss, it was Desbiens who came up with the most highlight-reel saves on Monday.
Desbiens is the reason the game went to overtime. One of her best saves came in the third, when Taylor Heise and Harvey were on a 2-on-1, and Heise timed a perfect pass to Harvey, who had a near-open net. Then, Desbiens came flying across the crease with her blocker, which deflected the puck high.
Desbiens later stopped American captain Hilary Knight on a breakaway. She made 29 saves on Monday night.
Team USA goalie Aerin Frankel made a huge pad save in the third to keep the game scoreless and got the crowd going with “U-S-A!” chants yet again. Frankel made 26 saves to register the shutout.
Things were mighty physical, obviously
It was Canadian defender Renata Fast who wasted no time in this one, laying a hit on Coyne-Schofield in the ninth second of the game to send the American speedster careening into the end boards. And just like that, the tone was set for yet another punishing head-to-head matchup between these rivals.
Noted agitator Abbey Murphy did just that, getting under Canada’s skin with hits and shoves and excellent offensive chances, too. The Team USA forward was the recipient of a hit after the whistle late in the first, courtesy of Canadian defender Ella Shelton, and then American forward Hayley Scamurra came along and hit Shelton, even later after the whistle. Both Shelton (cross-checking) and Scamurra (roughing) headed to the penalty box together.
Knight nearly ran over Canadian defender Jocelyne Larocque. In the second, Larocque and Fast sandwiched Carpenter, who was slow to get up. Larocque dumped Harvey after the American had a shot to open overtime, then Larocque threw up her arms like it was no big deal.
It went on like this all night long.
A stat that would be great to have included among the IIHF’s game reports: Hits delivered.
Canada’s special teams
The bad news for Canada: It's 1-11 on the power play in this tournament, and it was 0-3 on Monday against Team USA. The Canadians couldn’t get anything going.
The good news for Canada: Its penalty kill remains perfect, and it's the lone team in the tournament in that category.
Team USA got near back-to-back power play opportunities in the second, but couldn’t cash in, and the Americans were held to just two shots.
One of the saves of the game came on the American power play, when Desbiens absolutely robbed Hannah Bilka, who was in close but couldn’t get the puck up over Desbiens’ glove. Bilka stood there leaned over, blinking, after Desbiens made the save.
The goalie is a big part of why Canada’s penalty kill remains perfect.
OT was a thriller
It was scoreless through three periods, but this one was far from boring, with intensity and chances in both directions and physical play throughout.
The icing on the cake came in overtime, the 4-on-4 play that saw both teams ripping back and forth up and down the ice, and trading chances, though Canada couldn’t get a shot through.
Heise had a good chance, but Desbiens deflected the shot high. Then, Canada’s Natalie Spooner picked up the puck and tore down the ice the other way, where Fast had a shot blocked by Knight. It went back and forth like this until Simms ended it.
It’s not the way you’d want to see a gold medal decided on Sunday, but it was a nice glimpse of the incredible skill showcased during a 4-on-4 between the two best teams on earth.
Attendance record
The Adirondack Bank Center plays host to the AHL’s Utica Comets, the affiliate for the New Jersey Devils. But it's never drawn as many fans as Monday night’s world championship matchup between Canada and the U.S. did. The arena announced attendance of 4,017, which is a record for a hockey game.
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