Team USA rallied to defeat Team Canada 6-3 in Sunday’s IIHF Women’s World Championship gold medal game to secure their first title since 2019. Here’s what you need to know:
- USA’s Hilary Knight broke a 3-3 tie with 3:10 left in regulation, scoring a five-on-three goal that would hold as the game-winner.
- The go-ahead goal was the 100th point of Knight’s IIHF Worlds career and her second of the game. She completed a hat trick less than a minute later to put the U.S. ahead 5-3.
- This marks Team USA’s 10th gold medal and first since defeating Finland in 2019. Canada was seeking its third straight world championship.
🏆 @usahockey ARE #WOMENSWORLDS GOLD MEDAL CHAMPIONS!#InspireTheNext pic.twitter.com/fbxO70Okws
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) April 17, 2023
Backstory
Knight’s first goal of the game tied the score 2-2 midway through the second period after Canada had taken 1-0 and 2-1 leads early. Brianne Jenner’s second-period goal put Canada back up 3-2 before USA’s Caroline Harvey found an equalizer early in the third. After Knight’s pair of third-period goals, Cayla Barnes’ empty-netter iced the game with 1:58 remaining.
Team USA dominated Czechia 9-1 in the semifinals and beat Germany 3-0 in the quarterfinals to reach Sunday’s gold medal game. Canada took down…
