photo: © International Ice Hockey Federation / Matt Zambonin
Ella Shelton's goal and pair of assists powered Canada to a 4-1 win over Finland at the 2024 IIHF Women's World Championship in Utica, New York on Thursday night.
Both teams came flying out of the gate with their aggressive and energetic play. Canada had an early chance to take the lead when Danielle Serdachny shot the puck, and it trickled over the net 5:00 into the first period.
Canada opened the scoring at 9:15 of the period. The play started when Jamie Lee Rattray took away the puck to keep it alive in the offensive zone. She launched the puck towards the front of the net. The rebound bounced off Finnish goaltender Sanni Ahola and onto the stick of Brianne Jenner. The forward scooped up the puck and lifted it past Ahola and into the net for the goal.
Emma Maltais would increase Canada's lead just 1:58 into the second period. Natalie Spooner wrapped around the net and came out in front. Maltais was in the right position to take the puck and bury it into the net.
Finland responded 2:49 later with their first goal of the game. Finland won the faceoff in the offensive zone. Michelle Karvinen looped around the net and connected with Petra Nieminen, who flipped the puck into an open net on the right side to score the goal.
With 8;16 left in the period, Nieminen came close to scoring her second goal of the game. She attempted to come from the back of the net, but Canadian goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens was focused and shut Nieminen down.
On the powerplay, Finland came close to the equalizer with 6:51 left in the second period. Jenni Hiirikoski's wrist shot prompted a glove save by Desbiens.
Both teams came flying out of the gate with their aggressive and energetic play. Canada had an early chance to take the lead when Danielle Serdachny shot the puck, and it trickled over the net 5:00 into the first period.
Canada opened the scoring at 9:15 of the period. The play started when Jamie Lee Rattray took away the puck to keep it alive in the offensive zone. She launched the puck towards the front of the net. The rebound bounced off Finnish goaltender Sanni Ahola and onto the stick of Brianne Jenner. The forward scooped up the puck and lifted it past Ahola and into the net for the goal.
Emma Maltais would increase Canada's lead just 1:58 into the second period. Natalie Spooner wrapped around the net and came out in front. Maltais was in the right position to take the puck and bury it into the net.
Finland responded 2:49 later with their first goal of the game. Finland won the faceoff in the offensive zone. Michelle Karvinen looped around the net and connected with Petra Nieminen, who flipped the puck into an open net on the right side to score the goal.
With 8;16 left in the period, Nieminen came close to scoring her second goal of the game. She attempted to come from the back of the net, but Canadian goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens was focused and shut Nieminen down.
On the powerplay, Finland came close to the equalizer with 6:51 left in the second period. Jenni Hiirikoski's wrist shot prompted a glove save by Desbiens.
With 31.5 left before the end of the second period, Canada would strengthen their lead. Serdachny passed the puck to Kristin O'Neill, who was behind the net. O'Neill back passed the puck over to Julia Gosling who buried the puck into the net.
It was a fitting goal for Gosling as Thursday marked her debut representing Canada at the Women's World Championship. Her first goal also created a much-needed momentum shift for Canada.
"I wasn't even thinking about the score at the time," Gosling says. "We were just rolling. It was a big goal at the end of the second period. You get some momentum and bring that into the third period. It was crucial for our team."
In the final period, it was a fast-paced tempo as Canada was looking for assurance and Finland trying to get within striking distance. With 4:38 left in the game, the best chance came from Finland. Nieminen had a great opportunity after a miscue from Renata Fast led to a turnover but Desbien was right there to stop the play.
Canada scored the final goal of the game with 2:20 left in the third period. On the powerplay, Shelton blasted a one-timer past Ahola to put the game out of reach.
It was a fitting goal for Gosling as Thursday marked her debut representing Canada at the Women's World Championship. Her first goal also created a much-needed momentum shift for Canada.
"I wasn't even thinking about the score at the time," Gosling says. "We were just rolling. It was a big goal at the end of the second period. You get some momentum and bring that into the third period. It was crucial for our team."
In the final period, it was a fast-paced tempo as Canada was looking for assurance and Finland trying to get within striking distance. With 4:38 left in the game, the best chance came from Finland. Nieminen had a great opportunity after a miscue from Renata Fast led to a turnover but Desbien was right there to stop the play.
Canada scored the final goal of the game with 2:20 left in the third period. On the powerplay, Shelton blasted a one-timer past Ahola to put the game out of reach.
This win gives Canada their 100th win in Women's World Championship history. While Canada is fortunate to get the win, there area the team would like to improve upon.
"When you give up, 34 shots and you take six penalties, you're just not doing the right things," Canada's head coach Troy Ryan says. "We just need to be more aggressive defensively but also just mentally. Throughout the whole game, there's probably a couple five-minute segments where we just possessed the puck in the offensive zone; we looked pretty dangerous."
Canada will get little rest as they will be back on the ice on Friday April 5th to face off against Swtizerland.
"When you're playing in a world championship, you're going to expect the best," Ryan says. "We've never been a team that gets too caught up in who we're playing. Our coaches dive deep into the pre-scope, but we don't share a ton with the players. We got to worry about tidying up our own game, so once we do a little bit of that, we'll start to direct our focus to Switzerland."
Meanwhile, Finland faces another challenge when the team battles the United States on Saturday April 6th, still in search of their first victory of the tournament.
"They have a young team; everyone can skate so hard," Nieminen says "So I think it will be a fast game but we need to reinstate the mental side and be ready all the time, go to the puck first and also take to the box to the net."
Despite the loss, Nieminen felt that Finland showed signs of improvement from their previous game against Czechia.
"That was much better than yesterday that we thought that now we can play hockey, so we need to take also the mental side with ourselves," she says. "Today was much better. Everyone worked hard and we really did a good job. Now against the USA, we need to score a couple more."
"When you give up, 34 shots and you take six penalties, you're just not doing the right things," Canada's head coach Troy Ryan says. "We just need to be more aggressive defensively but also just mentally. Throughout the whole game, there's probably a couple five-minute segments where we just possessed the puck in the offensive zone; we looked pretty dangerous."
Canada will get little rest as they will be back on the ice on Friday April 5th to face off against Swtizerland.
"When you're playing in a world championship, you're going to expect the best," Ryan says. "We've never been a team that gets too caught up in who we're playing. Our coaches dive deep into the pre-scope, but we don't share a ton with the players. We got to worry about tidying up our own game, so once we do a little bit of that, we'll start to direct our focus to Switzerland."
Meanwhile, Finland faces another challenge when the team battles the United States on Saturday April 6th, still in search of their first victory of the tournament.
"They have a young team; everyone can skate so hard," Nieminen says "So I think it will be a fast game but we need to reinstate the mental side and be ready all the time, go to the puck first and also take to the box to the net."
Despite the loss, Nieminen felt that Finland showed signs of improvement from their previous game against Czechia.
"That was much better than yesterday that we thought that now we can play hockey, so we need to take also the mental side with ourselves," she says. "Today was much better. Everyone worked hard and we really did a good job. Now against the USA, we need to score a couple more."