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The ladies skated around the face-off circle, each having conquered the Finns, Swiss, and Russians.
They had traveled to Beijing for this: another match between Canada and the United States, the most famous rivalry in women’s hockey.
After Canada triumphed 4-2, the Canadians exuded confidence, the Americans glowered, and the remainder of the field in Beijing waited for whatever onslaughts each would unleash in the days ahead as they compete for the Olympic championship, which will be handed on Feb. 17.
Neither Canada nor the United States, the only two countries to win gold medals in women’s hockey since it became an Olympic event in 1998, has faced a clash of speed and power like the one that occurred on Tuesday during these Games.
The Canadians were effective shooters, taking 27 shots at American goaltender Maddie Rooney; the Americans tested the Canadian keeper, Ann-Renee Desbiens, with 53 shots.
“For us, we definitely want to focus on quality chances over quantity,” said Canadian attacker Sarah Nurse. “I know we’ve got a lot of shots this tournament as well, but I believe we’re putting a lot of emphasis on earning Grade A scoring opportunities.”
“Yeah, the US got a lot of perimeter shots,” she said, “but we had a wonderful goalkeeper, and so if you’re going to shoot from the outside, you’re not going to score on her.”
The US did admit that it would require a fresh plan against a goalkeeper like Desbiens, who is appearing in her second Olympics.
“It’s wonderful to get zone time and shots on goal, but when they’re blocking as many as they did and doing some of those things, shots don’t matter,” said United States coach Joel Johnson. “If we hope to win a game like this, we need to find a different approach to produce higher quality scoring opportunities.”
However, Canada’s attacking prowess did not begin as fast as it had in previous games when the puck had hardly dropped before the goal horn rang.
