Canada had to find a different way to collect a women’s world hockey title after its Olympic triumph earlier this year and world championship gold a year ago.
This edition was a work in progress throughout the tournament in Denmark, but Canada played its best game of the tournament in Sunday’s 2-1 victory over archrival U.S. in the final.
The Canadian women acquired their third major international title in the span of a year after beating the U.S. 3-2 for Olympic gold in February in Beijing, and 3-2 in overtime in the 2021 world championship final just over a year ago.
“It wasn’t smooth. It looked a lot different from our Olympic win and our last world championship win, but I think we’re really reassured when things aren’t as smooth we can find different ways to win,” Canadian forward Brianne Jenner said. “We battled it out and got the job done.”
After a quiet tournament in the scoring department, Jenner scored two second-period goals within a minute of each other Sunday.
Goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens was the calm eye of the storm in the third as the U.S. pushed furiously for an equalizer.
The Canadians were outshot 12-6 in the third period, but they blocked shots with abandon over the final two minutes when the U.S. pulled Nicole Hensley for an extra attacker.
Desbiens made 20 saves for the win, while Hensley stopped 17 shots.
“I think coming into this tournament, we had the confidence that we were the best team in the world,” Canadian forward Sarah Nurse said.
“We really wanted to show that. Winning three gold medals in one year is so special and something I don’t know we’ll ever be able to do again, but it just shows how hard our program has worked, where we are today.”
It’s Canada’s 12th gold medal at the tournament and the first time in 18 years they have won back-to-back world titles.
