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Canada’s Marie-Philip Poulin (29) and her teammates celebrate her goal against Switzerland during Monday’s semi-final.Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press
It was a close call, at least on the scoreboard, as Canada’s women’s hockey team averted disaster Monday, winning their Olympic semi-final 2-1 over Switzerland to advance to the gold-medal game.
“I’m sure people were on the edge of their seats,” defender Renata Fast said after the game, which was a narrower score than the Canadians had expected going in.
In a game where Switzerland, overmatched and badly outshot, collapsed into a defensive shell from the start, Canada put a barrage of pucks on goaltender Andrea Braendli, but struggled to pull away.
With the game scoreless a few minutes into the second period, Marie Philip-Poulin, playing near the blueline, dropped to one knee and one-timed a pass from Sophie Jaques. The puck ricocheted off a Swiss defender and into the net, putting Canada up 1-0.
It was a historic marker, giving Poulin 19 career Olympic goals, one ahead of former teammate Hayley Wickenheiser. About seven minutes later, she struck again, snapping a Daryl Watts rebound past Braendli, giving Canada a two-goal lead.
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But the Swiss put a scare into the Canadian bench in the third period when Alina Müller forced a turnover behind Canada’s net and fed the puck to wide open Rahel Enzler, cutting the lead to 2-1.
A loss to the Swiss would have been nothing short of shocking.
In women’s hockey, where Canada and the U.S. have dominated the field by a wide margin for decades, Canada came into the game with a perfect 22-0 record against Switzerland in international play.
While Canada has won five of the seven gold medals since women’s hockey was introduced at the Olympics in 1998, Switzerland’s only medal, a bronze, came at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games.
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Sarah Nurse and Daryl Watts celebrate after the game.Marton Monus/Reuters
“All tournament long you saw Switzerland, playing a really structured game, clogging up the middle of the ice, staying above their opponents, not giving a whole lot, and then they backed it up with some really great goaltending – and that same thing happened here tonight,” Fast said.
“You ought to give them a lot of respect … They made it difficult on us. They made it close.”
Canada outshot the Swiss 46-8, but the Swiss kept it close.
Swiss forward Laura Stalder said she thought the Swiss had a chance to take down the defending Olympic gold medalists.
“If we would have played like we played in the third period for the whole game, I think they were beatable today,” Stalder said.
“You want to capitalize against this team, especially when they are shaky.”
The Canadian players saw it differently. Though the game was close, forward Laura Stacey said they expected a hard match from the Swiss and are now looking forward to the gold medal game.
“Hockey’s not easy. We’re at the Winter Olympics, everybody wants to win,” Stacey said.
“We scratched, we clawed, we battled hard. We got a lot of shots through. Obviously we’ve got to find a way to put a few more in.”
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Poulin’s two-goal performance was yet another chapter in her almost unbelievable career-long story of coming through for her country on the national stage.Carolyn Kaster/The Associated Press
The multi-goal performance from Poulin was a welcome sight for the Canadian bench. Poulin injured her right knee early in the tournament after being taken hard into the boards versus Czechia. The injury forced Poulin, known as Captain Clutch for her propensity to score big goals, to miss two games.
“She shines in moments like this,” Fast said of Poulin’s heroics.
The win sets up another showdown in the final against the Americans. Canada and the U.S. have faced off six times in the Olympic final.
The only time the two teams haven’t met for gold was in 2006 at the Turin Winter Games, when Sweden upset the Americans in the semi-finals and Canada won the tournament.
The U.S. defeated Canada in 1998 and 2018, the only two times Canada has not won gold at the Olympics.
Monday’s win against Switzerland assures Team Canada of at least a silver medal in Milan. But in a rivalry as bitter and long-standing as the one that’s festered between Canada and the Americans in women’s hockey over the years, the women’s tournament has never been about silver.
“I think we’re going to enjoy every single moment and we’re going to go for gold,” Stacey said.
“When you’re a little kid playing road hockey or getting to lace up your skates for the first time, that’s what you dream about. Team Canada, wearing the Team Canada jersey, playing against the US in the gold medal game.”
The showing against the Swiss, narrowly winning despite badly dominating play, is a concern for Canada. Head coach Troy Ryan said he thought the team came out slowly in the game and wasn’t aggressive enough early on. The breakdown in Canada’s end that led to the Swiss goal was a mistake that can’t happen against the U.S., he said.
The Americans appear to have arrived in Milan with the stronger team this time – a younger, faster squad that defeated Canada’s veteran roster handily in the preliminary round, beating them 5-0.
Since that game, Ryan has talked about the need for Canada to clean up its game, limit mistakes and play more structurally sound hockey, with the team knowing it will have to play tight defence to counter the U.S. attack.
The semi-final game was its own defensive affair, with the Swiss playing four players back most of the game as Canada marched through the neutral zone with numbers.
Though the first period ended scoreless, Canada outshot the Swiss 13 to 1.
It was almost identical to when the two teams met in the preliminary round. Canada outshot the Swiss 17-2 in the first period of that game, but was held off the scoresheet until the second. Canada went on to win that game 4-0, outshooting the Swiss 55-6.
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