MILAN – Without captain Marie-Philip Poulin, Team Canada suffered its biggest defeat to its American rivals at the Olympics since 1998 on Tuesday night – a score of 5-0.
Poulin was injured in Canada’s 5-1 win against the Czech Republic on Monday and is listed with a lower-body injury. It was Canada’s first Olympic Games match without Poulin on the ice since 2006, when she was just 15 years old and rose through the under-18 ranks.
There is no replacement for Poulin, who has scored three game-winning goals in gold medal games at the Olympics. But Tuesday night’s effort was abysmal, with Canada managing just four shots on goal in the first period and just 20 by the end of the night. It was the first time since hockey debuted at the Olympics nearly three decades ago that Canada was left out of the tournament.
“I think our team can score goals. I think our team can play defense. Neither of them were there tonight,” said Team Canada coach Troy Ryan. “We didn’t get in at all; all our shots were perimeter shots and one-and-done.
“They’re big, they’re strong, they’re fast, they’re skilled, they’re a great team. But you still have to find ways.”
The win clinched Group A for the Americans, who play a dominant role in the Olympics. No team has scored more goals than Team USA (20) in the tournament or allowed fewer goals (1). No one has more points than defenseman Caroline Harvey, the two-time Olympian and presumptive No. 1 pick in the upcoming PWHL draft, who has two goals and seven points in just four games.
Both of her goals at the tournament were incredible displays of Harvey’s individual skills, including a toe-drag and finish around Emily Clark, one of Canada’s best defensive forwards, to open the scoring 3:45 minutes into Tuesday’s match.
Midway through the second period, Team USA led 4-0. There was no big comeback or impossibly tense finish, not like we’re used to seeing when these two teams face each other on the biggest stage. Just wall-to-wall dominance by the Americans.
“There just seemed to be a shoulder drop,” Ryan said. “Honestly, I don’t have time for it. We’re at the Olympics.”
Team Canada has scored just nine goals in three games and just four in five-on-five. The roster, which was announced last month, was heavily scrutinized due to the presence of many veterans. Meanwhile, Team USA brought one of the youngest rosters to Milan with top young talent and seven NCAA stars who have already made their mark; All but two of the American Olympic rookies have already made it onto the score sheet through the preliminaries.
The difference in approach was on display Tuesday night when Team USA was led by six players under the age of 25. Hannah Bilka was the oldest goalscorer at the age of 24. Even starting goalie Aerin Frankel is only 26 years old – five years younger than Canadian starter Ann-Renée Desbiens.
Team USA has now defeated Team Canada in seven straight games. In its last five wins, including at the Rivalry Series, the U.S. has defeated Canada 29-7.
This was the last group match for the United States, who advanced to the quarterfinals to play Italy, who finished third in Group B and stole a spot in the quarterfinals. What should have been a bad day for Canada on Thursday will now feature a match against Finland after the originally scheduled match (on February 5) was postponed due to a norovirus outbreak.
Murphy’s fingerprints were all over this game.
She scored three assists, including a no-look backhand pass for Bilka’s second goal of the night, and got under Canada’s skin at every opportunity. In the first period, she collided with Ann-Renée Desbiens and closed her legs around the Canadian goalkeeper, drawing the ire of Sarah Fillier, who retaliated with an interference penalty. Later in the match, Kristin O’Neill cross-checked Murphy, which earned a grin from Murphy as she got up and O’Neill went to the box. In total, Murphy had four of Canada’s five penalties, with Team USA scoring once on the power play.
Julia Gosling said Murphy was effective and that Canada should “be careful with some of the hits” the next time the two sides meet because Murphy “goes down a little easily.”
This is not the first time Murphy has been accused of flopping.
“People will say, ‘Be on your feet,'” Murphy said after the game. “But whatever, I don’t even care.”
Selling a call is just part of the Abbey Murphy experience, and just one thing she does to get into the heads of Canadians and throw them off their game. It’s this kind of pest behavior, combined with dazzling skill, that makes Murphy a unicorn in women’s hockey.
On Tuesday, Canada failed to address both Murphy’s skills and her extracurricular activities.
“The instigator, agitator and a little rat side of her is something she does very well,” Ryan said. “There are very few people who can play that role but also support it with some skill. She deserves a lot of credit for the way she plays. She is very effective and can have an impact in games, but it is important for us not to get caught up in it.”
Future Hockey Hall of Famer Hilary Knight was credited with the secondary assist on Harvey’s first-period goal.
That tied Jenny Potter’s United States Olympic record with 32 points (14 goals, 18 assists).
If she scores again in the tournament, in what will be her final of five Olympic Games, it will break the record for most Olympic goals by an American. She currently shares that brand with Natalie Darwitz and Katie King.
“It’s hard to put into words,” 22-year-old Haley Winn said about playing with Knight, 36. “She’s someone that a lot of us have looked up to since we were little. I know I have a picture with her from when I was probably seven or eight. So to be able to play on a team with her, it kind of leaves you speechless, and you learn so much from her, both on and off the ice.
“She’s a great mentor, so to see her do so well it’s not really a surprise to us, but she certainly sets a great example for the team, so we’re happy to have her.”
By now we’ve all seen the videos of the moment Poulin was hit by Czech forward Kristýna Kaltounková. Poulin lay on the ice for a moment, grimacing, and eventually skated back to the bench, putting minimal weight on her right leg.
She did not play in Tuesday’s game, but was present in a suite with No. 3 goalie Kayle Osborne, and received a nice round of applause from the crowd when she was shown on the center-ice video screen at the start of the second period.
It is not true that Poulin did not play Real worth reading up on – at least in terms of her availability for the remainder of the tournament. There is optimism from Canada that Poulin will be able to return sometime before the end of the tournament. When that will happen is still the question.
In 2021, Poulin missed the American preliminary round match at the women’s world championship in Calgary – which Canada won 5-1 – after taking a puck to the throat. She returned in the quarterfinals in a minimal role to prepare for the gold medal match, where she scored another match winner.
If Poulin does indeed return to Milan, we can probably expect something similar. There’s just no need to risk playing her until the group stage is over. As heated as the rivalry is, Tuesday night’s match will only count for seeding, with all five teams in Group A – including Canada – advancing to the quarter-finals.
Canada’s quarter-final is four days away (February 14); a return in the semifinals (Feb. 16) would give Poulin even more time to rest and be at her best when it matters most for the Canadians.
Tuesday was our first real look at Team Canada without Poulin, without the emotion and adrenaline of wanting to win for their captain on Monday night. And it wasn’t all that impressive.
Canada had just four shots on goal to Team USA’s two goals in the first period. By the end of the second, Canada still had only 10 shots. They failed to produce a consistent and strong cross and had several defensive errors that led directly to Team USA goals.
The Sarah Nurse-Sarah Fillier-Daryl Watts combination took on the role of ‘top line’ and managed only two shots on target. Ryan also returned to his faithful Laura Stacey-Blayre Turnbull-Emily Clark lineage which he called ‘an anchor’ for the team. And to her credit, Stacey was arguably Canada’s best player. She was hard on the cross, used her speed and drew a timely penalty, which Canada was unable to convert, and led the team with four shots on goal.
After her speech on Monday about the need for players to step up in Poulin’s absence, Stacey is one of the few who actually did so on Tuesday.
There were two reviews of Kirsten Simms’ second-period goal, her first in the Olympics.
First the officials tried to make sure the puck went completely over the line, which it did. Ryan then challenged for goaltender interference. After a lengthy review, the referees insisted it was a good goal despite the clear contact in the crease.
Kristin O’Neill also ended up in the blue paint, so it’s fair to assume that this negated Simms’ interference in the eyes of the officials. But according to the rules of the game, a goal is disallowed if an attacking player hinders the goalkeeper’s ability to move freely and defend the goal.
“I didn’t agree with it,” Ryan said. “A lot of people would have different opinions about it. It’s not the first time I’ve been wrong on a challenge, and it won’t be the last, but I think if I were in that situation again I would probably challenge it again.”
In the end, the moment didn’t matter. A lot more went wrong for Team Canada than a bad review. Just add it to the list of examples of puzzling goalie interference calls.
