Canada advances in women’s Olympic hockey as Marie-Philip Poulin makes history in return – The Athletic

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MILAN — Marie-Philip Poulin didn’t need to make history to cement her status as one of the best women’s hockey players of all time.

But, despite pain from a knee injury that kept her out of the lineup the last two games at the Olympic women’s hockey tournament, she did it anyway.

With a goal in the third period of Canada’s 5-1 quarterfinal win on Saturday night, Poulin officially tied Hockey Hall of Fame Forward Hayley Wickenheiser’s all-time Olympic goal record. With 18 goals in 25 games, Poulin needs just one more in Milan to stand alone in the history books.

“It’s just a nice icing on the cake,” Canada head coach Troy Ryan told The Athletic after the game. “Everything’s already been said about Pouli. It’s just nice that she’s now in that elite, top tier of offensive production.”

Poulin, now 34 years old, is the best women’s hockey player on the planet, and it’s been that way for some time now. She burst onto the scene as an 18-year-old at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, scoring the game-winning goal against Team USA. She did it again in 2014 … and 2022. No player in the history of the sport has scored in more Olympic gold medal games than Poulin, either, and she’s done it in four consecutive tournaments.

Ever the humble leader, Poulin shrugged at the latest achievement in her highly decorated career.

“It’s pretty cool,” she said. “That’s something I don’t really think about. I’ve been pretty fortunate in my career to play with unbelievable players. … I was just truly happy to be back on the ice with this team.”

Less than a week ago, Poulin’s status for the remainder of the Olympics was in question. Poulin took a big hit in Canada’s 5-1 win over the Czech Republic on Monday night and was in obvious pain on the bench. She tried to take another shift in the game, but ended up limping to the dressing room not long after.

After Canada’s practice on Friday afternoon, Poulin described the injury as “a little tweak” to her knee, but said it “is getting better.”

“It did hurt – still hurts,” Poulin said Friday. “Happy with where I’m at today. Obviously, skated yesterday, skated today. … To get back on the ice with that team is truly special.”

Canada’s captain was eased back into the lineup on Saturday, playing just under 13 minutes of ice time. Poulin made the most of her minutes early with a full-speed backcheck to break up a high-danger chance in the first period. Then, in the final five minutes, she scored her 18th of her career goal at the Olympic Games.

“It’s huge,” said Ryan about Poulin’s return. “I don’t think there’s anybody in this event that I’d want back in our lineup more than Poulin.”

That Poulin was able to return so soon is a testament to the work Poulin puts in behind the scenes. She’s dedicated in the gym and one of the strongest athletes on the ice on a nightly basis.

“She trains like nobody else,” said Ryan. “So she puts herself in these situations where she can rebound from situations like this and still find ways to contribute and have an impact.”

On Saturday, she did just that while playing on a new-look top line beside Sarah Fillier and Daryl Watts.

Ryan said Canada entered the tournament wanting to keep those three spread out in the top six to give the team a bit more depth at the forward position. But with the line of Emily Clark, Blayre Turnbull and Laura Stacey clicking — and producing with four goals in the tournament — Ryan felt Canada could load up its top line as the tournament transitions to the knockout stage.

Before the game, Poulin called Watts and Fillier “dynamic” with unbelievable skill.

“They see each other very well on that ice,” she said. “Game after game, they’re just getting better, and they’re just getting that connection together, and it’s been great to see.”

Fillier has been dangerous in Milan, with three goals and six points to lead the Canadian attack. Fillier is a naturally gifted distributor with elite vision and IQ, but she also has a quick release and the ability to finish her own chances.

It was Fillier — who has been tapped as the future face of women’s hockey in Canada when Poulin eventually retires — who set up Poulin’s record-tying goal on the power play.

“She’s been unbelievable,” said Poulin after the game. “I’m pretty lucky to be by her side, that’s for sure.”

With the win, Canada punched its ticket to the semifinals, where the team will face either Switzerland or Finland on Feb. 16 — pending the result of their quarterfinal matchup.

Still, Ryan wasn’t overly pleased with the team’s play over 60 minutes.

“I just thought we were losing a lot of battles — and not competing the way we need to compete at the Olympic Games,” he said. “As the game went on, we started to fix that.

“You’ve got to give credit to Germany as well, I thought they competed hard and battled and kind of made things difficult on us. But we shouldn’t need those types of wake-up calls to be able to compete much harder.

German goalie Sandra Abstreiter made 38 saves on 43 shots to keep the game relatively close. In the third period, German forward Franziska Feldmeier made history of her own, scoring the first-ever goal by a German against Canada in the 10th meeting between the two countries, and their first at the Olympics.

“That’s moving in the right direction,” said German defender Nina Jobst-Smith, who plays for the Vancouver Goldeneyes in the PWHL. “It’s exciting knowing that the pools are splitting in November. I think that will be really good for us to continue to develop and play against the top teams.

“When you only get one opportunity (in) a tournament, it’s hard to prove yourselves. But I think we did a great job tonight. We wrote history.”