Canada defeats USA to clinch Rivalry Series for third straight year

Though it didn’t take as much drama as in previous years, the Canadians did it again.

With a 3-1 win over the United States in Game 5 of the Rivalry Series, in front of a jam-packed crowd in Summerside, P.E.I., Canada clinched the series for a third year in a row.

Just like in the past two editions of the event, the series came down to a winner-take-all battle. However, unlike the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons – when the series was a best-of-seven – Canada didn’t have to pull off the reverse sweep to win the series in five games.

The series didn’t have an ideal start for the Canadians as the United States pounded them, 7-2, in Game 1 of the series in early November. However, the red and white bounced back with consecutive victories to lead 2-1 at the end of the first window.

Canada failed to clinch the series in Halifax on Thursday, losing 2-1 in a shootout, but came out with another strong effort in Game 5. The game was tied heading into the late stages of the third period, Jennifer Gardiner, who was left off the roster at the 2024 IIHF Women’s World Championship and the first window of this year’s Rivalry Series, scored her first goal with the Canadian National Team to put the home side out in front.

Laura Stacey closed the game out with an empty-net goal, her second of the series, sealing Canada’s fourth Rivalry Series win, an event that was introduced during the 2018-19 season.

Brianne Jenner had the other goal for Canada, while her Ottawa Charge teammate, Danielle Serdachny, had two assists.

It was a gutsy game by both teams, who were missing key players. Canada was without Sarah Nurse, while the U.S. was missing Hannah Bilka, who came in clutch during the Game 4 victory. That led to the Americans icing a lineup one player short due to the limited number of players enlisted for the final two games by the red, white, and blue.

While the scoring was limited once again, the goaltenders were mightily impressive. Aerin Frankel made 40 saves in the losing effort, while Emerance Mascmeyer turned away 28 of the 29 shots for her second victory of the series.

Maschmeyer was sensational in her two starts. Along with making 36 saves in a Game 3 victory, the Charge backstop posted a .970 percentage, the best among the six goaltenders who played in the series.

Rookie Gwyneth Philips was outstanding in her second start of the series. Maschmeyer’s backup had a shaky start in Game 2 three months ago, but she responded in a big way in Game 4, making 32 saves in the game, turning away all three shots she faced in the shootout.

Stacey ended up leading the tournament with four points in the four games she played, with U.S. captain Hilary Knight leading all skaters with three goals.

Similar to what has happened in the last two years for the Americans, the absence of college players hindered them in the second half of the series. With NCAA stars such as Laila Edwards, Abbey Murphy, Caroline Harvey and Tessa Janecke unavailable for the final two games, Canada’s experienced pros were able to dictate the last two games of the series. However, the aforementioned players are expected to be big-time players when the teams travel to Czechia for the Women’s Worlds in April.

It also didn’t help that the U.S. was without Alex Carpenter, who suffered an upper-body injury with the New York Sirens right before the international break.

That said, even dating back to the first window, Canada showed that it can beat whatever lineup John Wroblewski puts on the ice, giving the team considerable momentum heading into the World Championship.

Read more women’s hockey stories on DFO