U.S. overtime win locks up top seed
Canada to face Sweden in quarterfinals
UTICA, N.Y. The United States defeated Canada, 1-0 in overtime, at the women’s world hockey championship on Monday night to stay unbeaten and claim the top seed in its group.
Kirsten Simms scored at 3:38 of OT in front of a jubilant sellout crowd of 4,072 at the Adirondack Bank Center.
The U.S. had a three-on-one rush when Canadian forward Brianne Jenner went down in the corner during the three-on-three overtime. Simms beat Canadian goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens between the pads for the winner. Aerin Frankel posted a 26-save shutout for the U.S. and Desbiens turned away 29 of 30 in the loss.
Group A’s top five seeds and the top three in Group B make Thursday’s quarterfinals. The semifinals are Saturday and medal games Sunday.
Canada (3-0-1-0) will face Sweden, the No. 2 team in Group B, in Thursday’s quarterfinals. The Canadians needed an overtime goal by Sarah Nurse to beat the Swedes in a quarterfinal at last year’s worlds in Brampton.
Sweden (3-0-0-1) is the highestscoring team in Utica with 17 goals in its four games.
The U.S. (4-0-0-0) awaits the results of Tuesday’s games to know Group B’s No. 3 seed and its quarterfinal opponent. China (0-1-1-1), Denmark (0-1-0-2) and Japan (0-01-2) were all chasing that spot.
In other games Monday, Germany (3-0-0-0) blanked Sweden, 1-0 to secure top seed in Group B and Finland defeated the Swiss, 5-2.
The U.S. outshot Canada 12-6 in the first period. The Canadians turned the tables in the second with an 11-6 edge in shots.
Hannah Bilka’s illegal hit penalty on defender Renata Fast put Canada on the power play with four minutes remaining in regulation, but the Canadians couldn’t convert.
Desbiens was tested early by the Americans in overtime. She turned away six shots before she was beaten by Simms.
Nineteen of Canada’s 23 players hail from the new Professional Women’s Hockey League while the U.S. has 11 from the PWHL.