By Amy Tennery
MILAN, Feb 16 (Reuters) – Captain Marie-Philip Poulin scored twice to send Canada to their eighth consecutive women’s ice hockey Olympic final on Monday, beating Switzerland 2-1 to book a meeting with arch rivals the United States.
Canada have never missed the title game since the women’s tournament joined the Olympic programme and they kept that streak alive as Poulin made history, breaking the women’s all-time scoring record with her 19th and 20th goals at the Games.
The defending champions will look to pick up a sixth gold against a talented young U.S. team in the final on Thursday.
Forward Rahel Enzler put one on the board for the Swiss early in the third period but they could not match Canada’s firepower, as they were outshot 46-8.
Switzerland will play Sweden for the bronze on Thursday.
“It was a hard-fought game, we know the Swiss have a great team. They showed up. We struggled a little bit in the first period, we came out hard in the second. It was a tight game but happy we got that win,” said Poulin.
“I’m pretty lucky to be surrounded by such amazing teammates. Very lucky to be part of this group.”
Canada’s “Captain Clutch” Poulin missed the final two group games with a knee injury but it scarcely looked like it as she plotted her path to the Olympic record after a scoreless first period at Santagiulia arena.
She clinched her 19th career goal at the Games with a nifty slap shot that hopped off the ice and over Swiss Andrea Braendli’s pad to open the scoring as she surpassed compatriot Hayley Wickenheiser’s previous goal-scoring mark, sending the maple leaf flags fluttering around the stands.
She added another less than seven minutes later, pushing the puck in as she dived forward in a chaotic scene at the crease.
Poulin bodied Swiss forward Laura Zimmermann into the boards four minutes later but avoided a major penalty call that would have derailed her dream evening, spending two minutes in the sin bin for the move.
Switzerland had surprised Nordic titans Finland in the quarter-finals but could not keep up the momentum on Monday, as Enzler’s shot off an assist from Alina Muller early in the third period offered nothing more than a fleeting ray of hope.
RIVALRY RENEWED AT THE OLYMPICS
Fans on Thursday will be treated to a rivalry eternal as the Olympic flame, when Canada meet their old foes United States on their sport’s biggest stage.
They lost to the Americans in horrendous fashion earlier in the tournament, a demoralising 5-0 group-stage defeat while Poulin was sidelined that marked Canada’s first-ever shutout at the Games.
With Poulin back in the mix, Canada will be eager to humble their neighbors when it counts the most.
“This is the moment we have been fighting for, to play for gold,” said defender Renata Fast. “There’s no better match-up than to play the USA.”
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in Milan, additional reporting by Giulio Piovaccari, Trevor Stynes and Janina Nuno Rios; Editing by Christian Radnedge, Ken Ferris and Lincoln Feast.)
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