U.S.-Canada is an Olympic rubber match for this era's women's stars

Rebecca Johnston never doubts Marie-Philip Poulin in overtime. Last August in Calgary, Poulin reminded people why. The Canadian hockey captain took a pass in stride in the world championship final, then roofed a wrist shot high-glove, ringing the puck off iron and in and out of the American net.

Play kept going for 40 seconds before the horn sounded, but Johnston was ready to rejoice: "We all knew on the bench that it was in."

Two powerhouse teams rule women's hockey, and Johnston and Poulin lead one of them in mileage. When the Winter Games start in Beijing this week, they'll have played together at four Olympics, including the 2010 and 2014 tournaments that Poulin capped with golden goals. The United States lost those finals but broke through in 2018, besting Canada in the sixth round of a gold-medal shootout.

Beijing 2022 is a rubber match for 11 era-defining players. Canada's Melodie Daoust, Brianne Jenner, Jocelyne Larocque, and Natalie Spooner are at their third Games, as are Americans Kendall Coyne Schofield, Brianna Decker, Amanda Kessel, and Lee Stecklein. U.S. forward Hilary Knight is a four-timer now, as familiar as anyone with the ill will this border rivalry stokes.

Fans aren't allowed at the Games because of COVID-19; good thing U.S.-Canada matchups make for gripping TV. These teams are fast and unapologetically physical in a sport that penalizes hits. They'll face off Monday night to end the Olympic preliminary round, teasing what seems certain.

"I guess we can't really say that we'll both be in the finals," Johnston said in a recent interview. "But that's what we expect. We want to be in the finals and that's what we've been working toward: to win that gold medal. If it's against the Americans, then really taking that back this Olympics.

"I could play them every day," she added, "and every game, it would be exciting."

Both sides lean on their leaders. Larocque, women's hockey's first Indigenous Olympian, is Canada's oldest player and steeliest defender at age 33. Beset over the years by serious back, hip, and Achilles injuries, Johnston still leads the national roster in career games played. Daoust was the MVP and top scorer at last summer's world championships, followed atop the leaderboard by Jenner, Spooner, and Poulin.

The U.S. counters with Decker, the edgy playmaker and No. 1 center who could stickhandle in a phone booth, as Knight described her ahead of the Games. Coyne Schofield is as fast as speedy NHLers, and proved as much at the All-Star skills competition in 2019. When Stecklein was named best defender at the 2021 worlds, she deposed Jenni Hiirikoski, the Finn who'd won the award six straight times.

Knight is her generation's Cammi Granato, the captain who led the U.S. to Olympic gold in 1998.

"No one’s Cammi. But when you look at someone who carries the weight of this sport on her shoulders like Cammi did … you can put Hilary Knight in that category," Coyne Schofield told the Associated Press recently.

"What does Hilary Knight mean to this game? You can’t put it into words. You just watch it evolve in front of your eyes."

Like Poulin, Knight's known to rise in big moments. She's scored in overtime in two major finals, spoiling Canada's run at the world championships in 2011 and 2017. If such thing as a clutch gene exists, it's indispensable at worlds: since the tournament's inception in 1990, eight of 19 Canada-U.S. finals have required OT.

Their Olympic encounters tend to be dramatic and heated. Twenty years ago, the U.S. beat Canada in eight straight tune-up games, but Canada won gold in Utah despite being whistled for 13 penalties (to the U.S.'s six) in the final. In the span of 10 seconds postgame, Hayley Wickhenheiser slammed the officiating, accused the Americans of insulting Canada's flag, and offered to sign said flag for them.

"Much like when I played those eight straight games against the Americans leading into 2002, with every game it gets a little more physical. After the whistle, there's a little more in the scrum. There's a little more chirping," said Cheryl Pounder, the CBC Olympic broadcast analyst who played for two Canadian gold-medal teams.

"Any time you step on the ice, you're trying to prove to yourself and those around you that you are that team - that you are the best in the world," Pounder told theScore. "This game often defines that."

By brawling twice ahead of Sochi 2014, Canada and the U.S. set the stage for an epic final. The Americans led 2-1 late when an empty-net clearing shot from the opposite blue line gently plunked the Canadian post and stayed out. Poulin tied the score with a minute left, Knight cross-checked Wickenheiser on an overtime breakaway, and Poulin's snipe on the ensuing 4-on-3 prolonged Canada's Olympic reign.

That memory's dated now, seeing how the U.S. erased a third-period deficit to prevail in the 2018 shootout. Each veteran cohort has a triumph and a letdown to use as fuel.

"I think about (winning in 2014) all the time," Johnston said. "The joy, the excitement, the passion you have on the ice … It almost is an encouragement. It pushes you, especially on days when you're tired and don't feel like working out or practicing. It helps with the motivation: I'm so close to being able to win a gold medal again."

This Olympic quadrennial roiled women's hockey. After Canada's pro league folded in 2019, players from both national teams quit the top U.S. league, too, to form a traveling association of stars. They toured the continent to lobby for a living wage in a new, NHL-backed league that would be financially stable. The U.S. league - now called the Premier Hockey Federation - added a Toronto franchise, plans to expand to Montreal, and recently raised its salary cap to $750,000.

COVID-19 disturbed everyone's momentum. Outbreaks in last season's PHF bubble delayed the playoffs by two months. Unable to travel much, the collective of national-team members - the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association - trained in regional hubs and played a handful of showcase games at NHL arenas. This fall, Canada and the U.S. met six times in exhibition play, but three more rivalry games were canceled when Omicron emerged.

Neither national squad has played since mid-December, when Canada won back-to-back overtime affairs in St. Louis. The overall scoreline in the series favored the Canadians, but only 13-11, and three goals was the most either team scored in a game. Barring rust or a major upset, they're trending toward another white-knuckle final.

"Every four years, I find it's what's talked about after (the Olympics): how great the women's hockey was and how great that final game was," Johnston said.

"The gold-medal final is heavily watched," said Pounder, "from boys, girls, men, women, aunts, uncles, grandmas, grandpas. You name it. Doesn't matter. People want to hear about emotion. They want to hear about story. They want to hear about what the process is to get to the top."

Pounder added, "This Olympics is an opportunity for visibility. Coming out of these Olympics, it would be my goal that the eyes stay on this sport."

Both teams sooner have to worry about beating Finland - "the elephant in the room," Pounder said. The Finns open the round robin against the U.S. on Thursday, face Canada on Friday, and are right to believe they could bounce either favorite prematurely. Consider:

• Finland has reached the semifinals at all 20 world championships, winning bronze 13 times.

• In the semis at the 2019 worlds, star goalie Noora Raty's 43 saves helped Finland topple Canada 4-2. The host country termed it the Miracle in Espoo.

• In the final, Raty stoned 51 shots and Petra Nieminen scored on the U.S. in OT, but the goal was nixed upon review for goalie interference. After Finland fell in the shootout, Wickenheiser tweeted, "That. Was. A. Goal."

• Raty was excluded from the Beijing roster, but new starter Anni Keisala was named best goalie at the 2021 worlds. Nieminen, Susanna Tapani, and four-time Olympian Michelle Karvinen form an elite first line, while Hiirikoski - the captain and another fourth-timer - remains a dominant defender at 34.

"It's not a game that we can take lightly at all," Johnston said.

Like Raty, the rest of the era-defining Finns eventually will hand off the torch. Nieminen is 22 years old, while Keisala's an Olympic rookie, as are 10 Canadian players and eight Americans in Beijing.

Canada's emergent star is Sarah Fillier, the 21-year-old center whose five goals paced all scorers in the recent rivalry series. On the U.S. side, 22-year-old forward Grace Zumwinkle scored four goals at worlds last summer, matching Knight's production. As Pounder prepared to broadcast the Games, she asked Decker what to expect from Caroline Harvey, 19, who deferred the start of her college career to help helm the U.S. blue line this season.

Decker told her she plays like a veteran.

"That's saying quite a bit," Pounder said. "There are going to be some new faces who come out of (Beijing). Some future stars that the women's game can look forward to outside of Poulin and Knight and Decker."

Nick Faris is a features writer at theScore.