Canada posts 5-1 victory over Germany in women’s hockey

MILAN — Let’s be honest: the result was never in doubt. Canada’s women’s hockey team was always going to beat Germany, and it did so with relative ease on Saturday afternoon, posting a 5-1 victory to punch its ticket to the Winter Olympics semifinals.

The biggest news was the fact Germany scored a goal — something it hadn’t done in eight previous meetings against Canada, all losses by a combined score of 78-0. No, that is not a typo.

That margin had increased to 82-0 by the time forward Franziska Feldmeier broke away in the third period, beating Canadian goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer with a deke which sent both the German bench and its fans inside Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena into a frenzy.

Canada will now face Switzerland on Monday afternoon in a rematch of their first pool game, which Canada won 4-0. The United States will take on Sweden in the other semifinal later that day.

You can probably see where this is all headed, with yet another North American showdown for gold likely going down on Thursday barring a stunning turn of events.

Unlike past meetings, Canada would go into that as the underdog. Its lone loss in these Olympics came at the hands of the Americans, a 5-0 laugher that suggests the balance of women’s hockey power has shifted south of the border.

Canada rebounded from that by wrapping up pool play on Thursday with a 5-0 win over Finland, but only beating Germany by four goals — and two of them were on blunders by the German netminder — doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence.

“The first period… did not feel good. We didn’t compete to the level that we need to,” said head coach Troy Ryan. “I don’t think we were as difficult to play against as we need to be. I thought the second period and the third period was much more how we need to play to be successful.”

The other big news in this one was the return of Canadian captain Marie-Philip Poulin, who missed the previous two games with a lower-body injury she suffered last Monday against Czechia.

“The two skates I had the last couple days to see how I was feeling (went well). Obviously waking up in the morning it wasn’t worse,” she said of giving the thumbs up to playing.

“I had open conversations with the physio, the doctors, the coaches. Thing is, they trust me, I trust them.”

Poulin was tested almost immediately, having to race back on one of her earliest shifts to break up a German chance on the rush.

“I didn’t like the fact we had that turnover and she had to get back, because that really tested her leg,” said Ryan. “I think she forgot about the injury on that one and just kind of went for it.”

Not only that, Poulin made some hockey history in the process. Her power play goal to close out the scoring late in the third period, a perfect tip-in, is her 18th career snipe at the Olympics, which ties her with Hayley Wickenheiser for the most all-time.

“I didn’t know that until these interviews,” said Poulin, who has never been about personal accolades or accomplishments despite racking them up like few other hockey players. “I’ve been lucky enough to play with some amazing players, so I’m thankful for them.”

Getting Poulin back and up to speed in time for the medal round is a big deal. Canada would likely look a lot different against the U.S. with its heart-and-soul in the lineup.

“I’ve run out of things to say about Pou,” said Ryan. “She’s incredible, great human, great leader, incredible player. To be honest, in my head, you’d almost think this was already her record, so when I see that, it’s just nice that she gets to be where she belongs.”

Brianne Jenner, Clair Thompson, Sarah Fillier and Blayre Turnbull had the other tallies. Maschmeyer stopped 10 of the 11 shots she faced. Canada fired 43 shots towards German goaltender Sandra Abstreiter.

Still, the consensus is they have another gear to get to.

“We’ve got to get into the habit of making quick plays, quick decisions so you’re not playing to your opponent,” Ryan said of where Canada needs to improve heading into the final two games. “We’re taking extra time that’s not going to be there in the semis and isn’t going to be there in the gold medal game.”

Ste. Anne’s Jocelyne Larocque and Winnipeg’s Kati Tabin both played their fifth straight games and provided solid defending on the back-end. Larocque, who serves as an alternate captain, had three shots on goal in 15:24 of action. Tabin had one shot on goal and went plus-one in 13:41 of ice time.

“We want to still get better. We have a couple days here to video, to talk, to chat. We got that win tonight, but our starts are going to have to be better,” said Poulin.

www.winnipegfreepress.com/mikemcintyre