Poulin leads Canada over Swiss

MILAN — Marie-Philip Poulin simply can’t be stopped. And now, one of the most decorated players in women’s hockey history stands alone as the greatest scorer in Olympic history.

The player known as “Captain Clutch” was certainly that on Monday night for Canada, scoring twice in rapid succession to wake up her sleepy squad and lead them to a 2-1 semifinal victory over a stubborn, stingy Switzerland squad.

“It’s probably the best part of my entire coaching career is to have a front-row seat to some of the magic that she’s been able to provide for the team and our country and sport in general,” said head coach Troy Ryan.

“Nothing surprises me anymore. We have a bit of a flat start, we have a conversation in between periods, and of course it’s going to be Poulin that takes the lead in those situations. There really are no words to describe what she means to our program and what she means to hockey in general.”

Poulin’s first goal, at 1:49 of the second period, was her 19th-career tally at the Games, pulling her out of a tie with Hayley Wickenheiser for most all-time. Poulin then broke her own record at 8:21 of the middle frame when she buried a rebound for No. 20.

“I’m surrounded with such a great team, honestly. It’s very special to be part of that group, we have a core group that has been there a while,” said Poulin. “We wanted to get that win. We knew Switzerland was going to come out hard, and they did.”

Her second would prove to the winner after Switzerland scored early in the third period to create plenty of drama down the stretch despite a 46-8 disparity on the shot clock.

“She shines in moments like this,” said Canadian defender Renata Fast, who played a team-high 24:13 against the Swiss. “She’s the ultimate captain.”

Now, another gold medal showdown with the United States — the fifth in a row and seventh in eight Olympics — which will take place on Thursday. Canada has a 4-2 record, with Poulin scoring three of those gold-medal clinching goals.

Unlike previous meetings, Canada will go into that game as a significant underdog considering recent hockey history. Their lone loss at these Olympics came at the hands of the Americans, a 5-0 laugher in group play last week that suggested the balance of power has shifted south of the border.

This, after the U.S. swept a four-game exhibition series earlier this winter by a combined score of 24-7.

On top of that, the Americans are absolutely rolling here in Milan. They have gone 6-0, outscoring their opponents 33-1. That lone goal against came in the opener against Czechia, with five straight clean sheets to follow and an incredible 331:23 shutout streak currently intact.

So Canada should get ready to settle for silver against the younger, faster, more-skilled Americans, right?

“Every gold medal game is a fight, it’s a bloodbath. You have to work for every single inch on the ice,” said Fast.

“Who cares what the past was. You can talk so much about it. There’s a lot of noise in the media. But there’s no more belief than what we have in the locker room. We have the character, the heart, the pride in our group to fight, compete and make our country proud.”

One reason for optimism? Poulin wasn’t in the lineup during that drubbing last week, the result of a lower-body injury she had suffered one game earlier. And, as Monday once again showed, she is the heart-and-soul of the Canadian team and makes them much more difficult to play against. She also has three gold-medal clinching goals in her career.

“We know they’re a talented team, a skilled team. They’ve had a lot of success this year, obviously against us. But it’s one game. Well be ready to go at puck drop,” said Poulin.

Poulin — who is competing in her fifth Olympics and has served as captain for the last three — also brings a bit of an edge, too, as evident by a puck battle that ended with a Swiss player crashing hard into the boards during the second period. Officials initially called a major on the play, but reduced it to a minor penalty upon video review. That was the right call.

“She is the ultimate person and player,” said Ste. Anne’s Jocelyne Larocque, who had one shot on goal over 13:49 of ice time Monday. The other Manitoban in the lineup, Winnipegger Kati Tabin, was the seventh defender and played just four shifts for 2:45.

Canada is now 7-0 all-time against Switzerland at these Olympics, outscoring them 46-7. This is the third time they’ve met in the semifinal at the Games, with Sochi 2014 and Beijing 2022 being the others. Overall, Canada is 23-0 against Switzerland in head-to-head play, but this latest meeting was one of the toughest battles yet.

“Their goalie is spectacular and they played strong in front of her. We knew they weren’t going to hand it to us and we knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” said Larocque, who will be collecting her fourth Olympic medal.

Will it be a third gold, or a second silver?

“One game. Anyone can beat anyone. You can learn from the past, but the past isn’t going to dictate anything,” she said.

Tabin, meanwhile, will be awarded her first.

Canada will need to be much sharper in all facets of the game to have a shot on Thursday. Their puck management was a major issue in the round-robin game, and the team looked discombobulated at times again on Monday, especially in a sloppy first period where they looked completely out of sync at times.

“We have to play with confidence. We have to play connected. And we have to play a very aggressive style of game to take away their time and space. There’s no doubt we were not at our best in that (first) game. We looked a little timid at times,” said Fast.

“If you’re timid against a team that’s pretty fast and pretty skilled, they’re going to make you pay for it. Our group learned a lot from that, we’ve learned a lot through the course of the year, and I think the team that shows up for the gold medal team will be a team that is fearless and won’t be back down.”

Switzerland will meet Sweden, which lost 5-0 to the U.S. on Monday, in the bronze medal game.

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