Women’s Hockey Canada Wins Inaugural Rivalry Series
Canada jumped out to a 1-0 lead after one period of play. Brianne Jenner scored a power play goal at 5:20, with the tally assisted by Renata Fast and Brigette Lacquette. The Americans out-shot Canada in the period, 8-6, with Canada goalie Shannon Szabados making eight saves and USA’s Alex Rigsby turning aside five shots.
Canada’s lead was extended to two goals (2-0) at 3:35 of the second period after a tally by Blayre Turnbull, who finished an initial shot by Laura Stacey. The Americans held a second-period advantage with 21 shots compared to Canada’s seven attempts.
Both teams were held scoreless in the decisive third period. At the 2:23 mark, the United States’ Savannah Harmon beat Szabados, but the goal was called back after a crease violation. The Americans out-shot Canada, 9-4, in the third period.
For the game, the U.S. National Team out-shot Canada, 38-17. Szabados stopped all 38 shots she faced, while Rigsby tallied 15 saves.
The Rivalry Series consisted of three contests between the women’s national teams of both the U.S. and Canada with games Feb. 12 in London, Ontario, Feb. 14 in Toronto and Sunday’s game at Little Caesars Arena, which was presented by TCF Bank and kicked off the celebration of Hockey Week Across America.
“It was a big game for me; we had 4 Nations at the start of the year, a new season for me and it wasn’t quite the outcome I wanted, or we wanted. Today I just wanted to try and battle for the girls, now that we’re further into the season and in a groove, so I just tried to go out and have fun today. [The team] also played really well in front of me. They didn’t give up a ton of odd-man rushes, everything was from the point or the sides and if anything was in front, they battled, so it was just a strong game in front of me.” – Szabados on her shutout