For all the focus on the United States鈥� young and retooled roster, it was who else but Hilary Knight 鈥� the team鈥檚 most experienced and accomplished star 鈥� who played a pivotal role in securing her nation鈥檚 10th women鈥檚 world hockey championships gold medal and first in four years.
The 33-year-old Knight scored three times, including the go-ahead goal with 3:10 left in regulation, in a 6-3 win over Canada, and on their cross-border rival鈥檚 home soil in suburban Toronto on Sunday.
Apologizing for her voice being hoarse from a celebration that featured the Americans singing a rousing rendition of 鈥淭he Star-Spangled Banner,鈥� Knight broke into a smile and said, 鈥淵eah, it鈥檚 been a while.鈥�
The Americans overcame three one-goal deficits and the sting of losing the past three gold-medal meetings against Canada 鈥� the past two world championships and the 2022 Beijing Winter Games 鈥� to reclaim gold for the first time since a 2-1 shootout win over Finland in 2019.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to beat Canada. It鈥檚 hard to beat Canada in Canada, right? So we definitely felt like an underdog,鈥� Knight added. 鈥淧eople are always rooting against us, but somehow we persevere and it feels sweeter that way. 鈥�
Caroline Harvey had a goal and assist, and Abbey Murphy and Cayla Barnes, with an empty-net goal, also scored. The Americans scored four unanswered goals in the third period. Aerin Frankel stopped 24 shots.
With a U.S. roster featuring five players making their tournament debuts, Knight scored twice in the span of 27 seconds to capitalize on a two-player advantage with the game tied at 3.
With Brianne Jenner off for tripping and Claire Thompson penalized 1:11 later for delay of game, Knight snapped in a shot from the mid-slot to beat Ann-Renee Desbiens high on the glove side. Knight made it 5-3 by deflecting in Harvey鈥檚 shot from the left point. As for her first goal, Knight tied the score at 2 by converting a 2-on-1 break with Amanda Kessel 8:30 into the second period.
Jenner scored twice and added an assist, and Marie-Philip Poulin had a goal and assist for Canada, which settled for its ninth silver medal, to go along with 12 golds and one bronze. Desbiens stopped 16 shots in losing her first tournament game in 17 career starts.
鈥淚 think we鈥檙e in a little bit of disbelief now. Not that we don鈥檛 know the opponent is a great hockey team, but we believe so fully in our group,鈥� Jenner said.
鈥淚 think there鈥檚 a lot of moments in that game. You know, I think it鈥檇 be easy to put blame elsewhere. But I think we have to look at ourselves,鈥� Jenner added. 鈥淚 mean we鈥檝e got to figure out a way to hold those leads.鈥�
The U.S. hasn鈥檛 defeated Canada with a gold medal on the line since the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea. Otherwise, Canada and the U.S. have met in the world tournament鈥檚 21 other gold-medal games.
鈥淭hey definitely had our number for a few years, so this one feels a little extra special,鈥� Kessel said. 鈥淚鈥檝e been on the other side of it where you鈥檙e just winning, winning, winning. And you kind of have their number and it鈥檚 a confidence thing. So I think this was huge for us.鈥�
The U.S. finished with a tournament-leading 43 goals, and bounced back from a 4-3 shootout loss to Canada in the preliminary round. And they beat a veteran-laden Canadian team that featured a majority of players who have been together since winning in Beijing.
鈥淭he message was pretty clear. There鈥檚 not a lot you can say in those situations where you can make them feel any better,鈥� Canada coach Troy Ryan said. 鈥淚 think they鈥檒l learn from this experience and just grow as a group.鈥�
Knight finished with a tournament-leading eight goals, and tied for third with 12 points. Overall, she upped her tournament-record career goal total to 61, while also extending her record point total to 101. Knight also won her ninth tournament gold medal, which tied the record set by Canada鈥檚 Danielle Goyette.
The victory also came with Knight filling in as captain after Kendall Coyne Schofield announced she was pregnant last month.
鈥淥bviously not having Kendall here, we felt that it鈥檚 sort of like a hole in your heart,鈥� said Knight, who was having difficulty reaching Schofield because of poor cell service in the arena.
鈥淪he鈥檚 definitely missed,鈥� Knight said. 鈥淎nd we鈥檙e happy that we could get this win. And we can鈥檛 wait for her to come back and join us.鈥�
The Americans responded each time after Canada scored, with Harvey tying the game at 3 at the 5:40 mark of the third period. Keeping the puck in at the left point, the 20-year-old defender took a few steps in and snapped a shot beating Desbiens on the glove side.
Harvey enjoyed a breakout tournament by finishing with four goals and a tournament-leading 14 points. This capped a 91原创enal year for the 20-year-old player, who last month celebrated winning an NCAA title in her freshman year at Wisconsin.
Denisa Krizova scored twice, including the go-ahead goal, and added an assist and the Czech Republic won their second consecutive bronze medal with a 3-2 win over Switzerland in a rematch of last year鈥檚 third-place game.
Kiira Yrjanen scored the go-ahead goal 6:48 into the second period, and Finland is returning to Group A in next year鈥檚 world championships following a 3-1 win over Sweden on Sunday. The Finns, who have won 13 silver medals and a silver in 2019, bounced back after finishing a tournament-worst seventh last year in Denmark.
鈥擩ohn Wawrow, The Associated Press
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