U.S. womens hockey team routs Canada, contines

MILAN — The hockey group-play sport between the U.S. and Canada at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games on Tuesday was both meaningless and vitally important.

For the document, the U.S. breezed to a 5-0 win behind two objectives from Hannah Bilka, a aim and two assists from Carolina Harvey and three assists from Abbey Murphy. It was another full, methodical efficiency, one that noticed the U.S. rating in every period for a fourth straight sport while shutting out an opponent for a third straight time, operating its shutout streak to 151 minutes.

But because both groups had already certified for the next spherical, the only factor the end result decided was positioning for the quarterfinals, with the U.S. (4-0) incomes the top seed out of Group A.

Yet the sport was also important because it was the U.S. and Canada, a rivalry that once stood alongside Coke-Pepsi, Dodgers-Giants and paper vs. plastic as one of the best ever. But is it waning?

The U.S. entered the Milan-Cortina Winter Games ranked first in the world, Canada is second. Canada has received 5 of the seven earlier Olympic tournaments, the U.S. received the other two.

But the Americans have received seven video games in a row over their northern neighbors, courting to last April’s world championships, and many of those video games, such as Tuesday’s, weren’t actually close.

So is it still a rivalry? Or has it grow to be a rout?

Canada, which figures to meet the U.S. again in the knockout spherical, is sticking with the previous.

“I don’t think you read too much into it,” Canadian captain Brianne Jenner said. “Sometimes games like that happen and it’s hard to put a finger on what it was. But I don’t think we’re lacking any inner confidence.”

The Americans, meanwhile, stayed on their best, most humble conduct afterward, making an attempt not to poke the wounded bear.

“Every time we get to hit the ice against them, it’s an honor and a privilege,” defender Cayla Barnes said. “We have nothing but respect for them. And every time, we know it could go either way.”

Well, not these days. But Barnes said the U.S. dominance has been a course of that has spanned years, not just seven video games.

“This is four years in the making,” she said. “We’ve been putting together a collection of games, a collection of players, building some chemistry and a lot of trust and a lot of faith in each other. So I think that’s what you’re seeing here.

“[We] understand what we’re capable of and continue to put our foot on the gas and just play our way. There’s always something that we can get better at.”

The U.S. was on the fuel from the start Tuesday, taking its earliest lead of the match on Harvey’s aim 3:45 into the first period. Murphy set up the next one, sending a behind-the-back move from the end boards to the entrance of the web for a wide-open Bilka for the aim with less than three minutes left in the first period.

The U.S. made it 3-0 on a disputed aim 81 seconds into the second period with the referees, after a long review, ruling that Kirsten Simms had pushed the puck through a mass of our bodies in the crease and across the aim line. Canadian coach Troy Ryan challenged the aim but misplaced, incomes a bench minor for delay of sport.

Bilka acquired her second aim a dozen minutes later before Laila Edwards closed out the scoring halfway through the ultimate period. By then Ryan had modified goaltenders, changing Ann-Renee Desbiens with Emerance Maschmeyer, who stopped the bleeding over the ultimate eight minutes.

For the U.S., it was a dominant efficiency — but one that ended with the ultimate whistle. A different Canada, the Americans know, looms in the next spherical.

“We’re super hungry after this,” Canadian ahead Julia Gosling said. “We’re very disappointed so we want to come out learn from it. And yeah, next time we see them, we’re going to be very prepared.”

Canada may definitely be a different team personnel-wise since it performed Tuesday without its captain, Marie Philip-Poulin. She left Monday’s sport with Czechia after taking a heavy hit along the boards that left her unable to put weight on her proper leg. The three-time Olympic gold medalist and four-time world champion was listed as day to day.

Until that rematch, count on the U.S. to stroll softly while carrying big hockey sticks. Because rivalries never really die and this one’s not about to fade away.

“Our coaches say the same thing: never [get] too high, never [get] too low,” U.S. ahead Taylor Heise said. “They’re gonna hate us even more than they already do if we end up meeting them again.”