Team Canada beats USA, 3-2, to win the gold medal in women’s hockey at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing!

Records were smashed in their win as Canada has now won five of the seven gold medals in women’s hockey.

Sarah Nurse got the scoring started for Canada before captain Marie-Philip Poulin scored twice unanswered. The US got the board with a shorthanded goal by Hilary Knight but it wasn’t until the final 12.5 seconds that they found the back of the net again as Amanda Kessel scored in the waning seconds the game. It was too little too late though as Canada held on to win.

We live blogged the entire game. Find our original updates below.

Canada 3 – USA 2 – AMANDA KESSEL SCORES!!!!! WITH 12.5 SECONDS LEFT AMANDA KESSEL FINDS THE BACK OF THE NET. There was a huge scramble while the US had two extra skaters (goalie pulled plus a power play) and they’ve pulled within 1 goal.

Canada 3 – USA 1 – Ohhhh less than ideal for Canada. Poulin is in the box with 1:25 left and an empty net for the US. One last stand here.

Canada 3 – USA 1 – And there she goes. Three minutes left and the US have an empty net to get the extra skater on the ice!

Canada 3 – USA 1 – Tick tock tick tock. Four minutes left in the third, and the real question here is how early do you pull Cavallini to get the extra skater?

Canada 3 – USA 1 – The US’s power play has looked Bad all tournament and the power play they just finished is no different. They’re hovering around 20 percent power play conversion (compared to Canada’s nearly 45 percent), and not being able to score – or even really get a good chance here – is a killer.

Canada 3 – USA 1 – I continue to remind baffled by the US’s bench management. The US need a spark, something different out there and Johnson just continues to push the same players out again and again. Half of their players have played double digit minutes and the other half have barely been on the ice for more than 5 minutes. * shrugs *

Canada 3 – USA 1 – In my extremely professional opinion, the US need to score soon here.

Canada 3 – USA 1 – Another great chance for Carpenter. She’s had a great tournament, it’s almost as if she has a bone to pick with the USA Hockey. (She does for what its worth as she was mysteriously left off the 2018 roster after being on the 2014 roster and playing well.)

Canada 3 – USA 1 – The ping of the post is going to haunt US players and their fans forever. Alex Carpenter just hit the post as the US is threatening here.

Canada 3 – USA 1 – The puck is down and the US have just 20 minutes of game time to tie the game. As a reminder, if we do get to that point, its all 3-on-3 sudden death overtime, no more shootouts.

• The shorthanded goal by Knight should be a big spark plug for the US. How they start the third period will be extremely important because getting three on ARD is going to be tough, really tough.
• Canada needs to stay calm, play their game, and maybe get another goal because everyone knows the two goal lead is the most dangerous lead in hockey.
• I love hockey and Olympic hockey but wow am I excited for these 11:10 p.m. EST games to be over. For those who haven’t been with us all tournaments, this has been the usual start time for the night games, and its rough.

Canada 3 – USA 1 – I feel like I blinked and the period is over? I did spent far too much time trying to remember how numbers worked for the TOI comments though so maybe that’s why. Regardless, that’s the end of the second period! Phew.

Canada 3 – USA 1 – HILARY KNIGHT SCORES!!!! A SHORTHANDED GOAL TO GET THE US ON THE BOARD. Knight skates with the puck up most of the ice, shoots thru a block, before collecting her own rebound to find herself in front of a wide open net. If you saw the terrible sentence I had written here before, no you didn’t. I was busy gasping over Knight’s goal.

Canada 3 – USA 0 – A little bit of Olympic history tonight. Nurse’s goal and then assist on Poulin’s second goal gave her 18 points on the tournament. She’s now surpassed Hayley Wickenheiser with the most points in a single Women’s Olympics. It also gave her 13 points, the most assists in a single Women’s Olympics as well.

Canada 3 – USA 0 – Beside Poulin scoring, the other thing that’s a given in these US Canada games, if you’re unfamiliar, is the * sparkle emoji * spice. Canada has scored on just under half of their power plays so the US needs to be careful if things get spicy though.

Canada 3 – USA 0 – If you aren’t on Women’s Hockey Twitter, you might be missing the conversation around the US’s time on ice numbers, something that’s been a thing the whole tournament. We’ve talked about how their defenders are, uh, interestingly deployed. But the forwards are also getting interesting shifts too. The top line is at seven plus minutes while the rest of the lines are hovering around 3-4 minutes. Given their depth in the rest of the tournament this is well unconventional might be the nice way to say it.

Canada 3 – USA 0 – Holy guacamole batman. Canada’s defenders just played Extra Goaltender and almost assuredly stopped a wraparound attempt goal as Desbiens got stuck on her other post. That was the US’s best chances of the period so far.

Canada 3 – USA 0 – MARIE-PHILIP POULIN SCORES!!!!!! Again, this is the Way. Poulin is crashing the net after some miscues on an odd-skater rush and puts Canada up 3-0.

Canada 2 – USA 0 – It really feels like both teams are settled down after that frantic first period (either that or I did…). There’s been less stoppage of play but both teams just look like the Gold Medal Game Nerves (TM) have calmed themselves down.

Canada 2 – USA 0 – With about 5 minutes gone in the first period, the US has had 2 shots on net this period, but even still. It doesn’t feel like the start the US wanted as Canada has controlled most of the play.

Canada 2 – USA 0 – The game is back and I failed to mention this before, but Poulin’s goal tonight gives her 6 goals in 4 Olympic gold medal games. Let that one sink in. Not 6 goals in 4 Olympic games, 6 goals in 4 Olympic gold medal games!

• The US need to figure their selves out. Basically only their top line of Knight, Coyne Schofield, and Brandt are doing anything. They have the depth to be there so everyone else needs to step us.
• Canada looks as good as they’ve looked all tournament. Loose, fast, and playing well.
• I’m only tired when there’s no hockey on so hopefully this intermission goes fast.

Canada 2 – USA 0 – Deep breaths everyone as the first period is over. I am generally doing well, in case you were wondering.

Canada 2 – USA 0 – So as much as it makes sense that Poulin scored (because its a gold medal game against the US so she has to scores, it is the Way). Both goals have come off defensive breakdowns by the US. Please see below as to why this problematic. Tl,dr: its because the US has basically sat 2 defenders and really only played four of them all tournament. Can you say, tired defenders?

Canada 2 – USA 0 – MARIE PHILIP POULIN SCORES!!!! With just under two minutes left in the period, Captain Clutch (and Canadian Captain) steals the puck and just lets off her classic shot to put Canada up two.

Canada 1 – USA 0 – I forgot to mention because over at The Ice Garden it was “old news” but if you’re new to the game, a huge storyline for the US is that Brianna Decker was injured in the first half of their first game in Beijing. Decker is a huge presence on and off the ice, and they’ve definitely missed her on the ice.

Canada 1 – USA 0 – Okay so remember how I said the US shots a lot. They have just 2 so far and we’re about 12 minutes through the first period. They also haven’t scored a first period goal in their last three games so no real time to panic here, US fans.

Canada 1 – USA 0 – SARAH NURSE SCORES!!! (This time for real) A set faceoff play finds Nurse in front, tying her for the record for points in a single Olympic tournament. That was only seconds after Canada’s goal was disallowed. Huge momentum swing upcoming here…

Canada 0 – USA 0 – A COACH’S CHALLENGE OVERTURNS THE GOAL!!!!!! This is the second time this Olympics where a Coach’s Challenge overturns a huge goal. Holy guacamole! The other time was in the ROC Switzerland quarterfinal game which overturned ROC’s go-ahead goal.

Canada 1 – USA 0 – NATALIE SPOONER SCORES!!!!! Just about 7 minutes into the first Spooner picks up a rebound and has a wide open shot after the US has a defensive breakdown (lol).

Canada 0 – USA 0 at 17:40: NOT THE DREADED POST IN A GOLD MEDAL GAME. Hannah Brandt just barley missed a wide open goal as all of the US had a flashback to 2014 gold medal game. Just google it, I can’t talk about it…still.

Canada 0 – USA 0 at 18 minutes: omg the hockey has started. It feels weird that we’re at the end of the tournament, to be honest.

A few strange storylines to follow, if you’re interested:

• Strange defensive deployments for the US: Head coach Joel Johnson brought 7 defenders but has only really used 5. Caroline Harvey (who btw is only 18) and Jincy Dunne have all but rode the bench logging 22 and 40 minutes on ice respectively. Dunne technically on the final pair with Megan Bozek, but Bozek has double the amount of minutes on ice. Strange strange strange
• The US takes a lot of shots, like a lot, but can’t score: They average 50+ shots a game but have scored nearly half as many goals as Canada. What does it mean? Well the US is probably taking bad or low quality shots. Meanwhile Desbienes isn’t used to seeing that many shot so that would be to the US’s advantage to just shoot a lot still.

Oops there’s the puck drop, just read my preview over at The Ice Garden.

This is about what we thought and what we’ve seen. Daoust, who was injured in their first game but listed as day-to-day, came back for the semifinal game. No surprise with Desbiens getting the start.

The US’s projected line can’t be right because they have three goaltenders listed but the important part – Alex Cavallini is getting the start. Cavallini played both the quarterfinal and the semifinal, plus one of the preliminary games. Interestingly, she didn’t see the ice once in the 2018 Olympics where the US won gold. The goalie for the gold medal, who was nicknamed the Secretary of Defense after her shootout stand down, was tonight’s backup, Maddie Rooney. Nicole Hensley, listed, is almost likely not dressed due to line up rules.

One of the best rivalries gets center stage in one of the biggest games on the 2022 sports calendar. The USA women’s hockey team faces off against Canada in the gold medal game at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. The puck drops at 11:10 p.m. ET and the game will be available on NBC.

Four years ago in the Pyeongchang Games, the United States beat Canada 3-2 in a six-shot shootout. The Americans avenged a 3-2 overtime loss in Sochi, and won the gold medal for the first time since women’s ice hockey was finally launched at the 1998 Nagano Games. In the six Olympiad in which women’s ice hockey has been a medal sport, Canada has claimed four golds and two silvers, while the US has claimed two golds, three silvers, and a bronze.

These two squads met in group play, with Canada winning 4-2. Canada has rolled through the tournament thus far without a scare beyond the US game. In group play, they finished 4-0-0-0 with a +28 goal differential. They followed that with an 11-0 quarterfinal win over Sweden and a 10-3 semifinal win over Switzerland.

The US managed to briefly hold a 2-1 lead in the group game against Canada, but fell back into a tie less than 30 seconds later. The US won its other three group games and finished with a +14 goal differential. They advanced in the playoff bracket with 4-1 wins over Czechia and Finland to set up this rematch.

Hilary Knight leads the US squad with nine points on five goals and four assists, and is followed by Savanna Harmon and Amanda Kessel with seven apiece. The Canadians have dominated scoring this tournament with the top six in points overall. Sarah Nurse leads the way with 16 points on four goals and 12 assists.

Between the pipes, American Alex Cavallini is second in save percentage at .955 while Canadian Ann-Renée Desbiens has a .936 save percentage. Both will be busy on Wednesday evening, but Cavallini in particular could face a barrage of shots.

The US and Canadian women’s teams have had a thrilling rivalry over the years. They’re the two best in the world and it’s only fitting they now square off for what will hopefully be an exciting gold medal game.

How to watch USA vs. Canada, 2022 Olympic gold medal game

Time: 11:10 p.m. ET
Where: Wukesong Sports Centre, Beijing, China
TV: NBC
Live stream: NBC Olympics, Peacock

Puck line: Canada -1.5 (+140), USA +1.5 (-160)
Total: 5 (Over -130, Under +110)
Moneyline: Canada -210, USA +170