Canada tops US as rivalry heats up

GANGNEUNG, South Korea — The Americans and Canadians pushed, shoved and grabbed each other, sometimes from behind, sometimes mask to mask, and bodies were crashing to the ice repeatedly in front of the net.

All of this with no medal on the line.

Meghan Agosta and Sara Nurse each scored in the second period and defending Olympic champion Canada clinched the top spot in pool play by edging the United States 2-1 on Thursday in a rough-and-tumble early showdown between the dominant powers in women’s hockey.

It could have been a preview of the gold-medal game next week.

Genevieve Lacasse made 44 saves, including stopping Hilary Knight at the post inside the final 90 seconds. Brianne Decker hit two posts, the second in the final seconds, before the two rivals ended up in a scrum. Officials reviewed the final play and ruled no goal. The Canadians also had two goals disallowed earlier in a game that showed just how far these two teams are above the rest of the field — and how much they want to beat each other.

“It’s a rivalry,” U.S. coach Robb Stauber said of the physical play. “What else would anybody expect?”

Kendall Coyne scored the Americans’ goal.

Canada and the United States are the only countries to win women’s hockey gold at the Olympics. The Americans won in 1998, while Canada is looking for a fifth straight title.

The two played eight times last fall through a preOlympic exhibition tour and the Four Nations Cup. The United States won two of the first three, but Canada now has won five straight against their biggest and only rival.

“We’re not worried about it, nope,” Stauber said. “We’re focused on the things that we can control, and certainly those games that we’ve played in the past have nothing to do with our future.”