By Amy Tennery
BEIJING (Reuters) -Canada beat the United States 3-2 to win the women’s ice hockey final at the Beijing Olympics on Thursday, reclaiming the gold medal the Americans had taken from them four years ago in Pyeongchang.
Captain Marie-Philip Poulin scored twice, including the game winner, after Canadian sharpshooter Sarah Nurse got the team going midway through the first period, as an outgunned U.S. team recorded 40 shots on goal to Canada’s 21 across the entire affair but were unable to convert where it counted.
Four-time Olympian Hilary Knight got the United States on the board with a shorthanded effort with less than four minutes to go in the second and Amanda Kessel converted on a power play with 13 seconds to go in the third after the U.S. pulled their goalie to bring the contest to a nail-biting conclusion.
Once the final seconds ticked off the clock, the Canadians celebrated, throwing their gloves in the air and mobbing each other in a scene of utter joy, having earned sweet redemption four years after the Americans ended their run of four straight golds in a devastating shootout loss.
Nurse made history with the most points and assists in a single women’s Olympic tournament, while Poulin – who had already well-earned the nickname “Captain Clutch” before Thursday’s effort – ended the day as Beijing’s second scoring leader.
Finland defeated Switzerland the previous day to take bronze.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in Beijing; Additional reporting by Steve Keating; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Jacqueline Wong)
