As the matches progressed, the Canadians regained their cohesion and they were convincing in a 4-1 victory against the Americans in the Rivalry Series on Sunday.
After a false start, losing 7-2, the maple leaf won the second game in a shootout and now leads 2-1 in the three of five confrontation.
By obtaining an assist on the first goal, captain Marie-Philip Poulin reached the plateau of 220 points with the national team, overtaking Danielle Goyette for fourth place in history.
Emerance Maschmeyer did a superb job in net blocking 36 of 37 shots aimed at her, frustrating the opposition time and time again. She lost her shutout with a little over 6 minutes remaining in the game on a superiority goal from Laila Edwards.
The Americans were very undisciplined with eight penalties and Canada’s numerical advantage converted two of its chances in these circumstances thanks to Sarah Nurse and Kristin O’Neill. Jocelyne Larocque and Emily Clark also scored.
Aerin Frankel was generous on the returns and she suffered the defeat by allowing four goals on 29 shots.
Larocque opened the scoring at 3:03 of the first period. Daryl Watts got around goalie Aerin Frankel who, sprawled full length on the ice, lost sight of the puck. It slipped under his pad and Larocque was able to recover the loose puck to score in a gaping cage.
Midway through the period, Nurse doubled the lead by jumping on the rebound.
O’Neill made it 3-0 in the second period with another putback, also on the attack, while Emily Clark rounded out the scoring in the third period.
The Rivalry Series will conclude in the Maritimes in February. The penultimate duel will be played on Thursday, February 6 at the Scotiabank Centre, home of the Halifax Mooseheads in the QMJHL. The teams will then travel to Summerside, Prince Edward Island on Saturday, February 8.
Canada
