United States hoping to clinch Rivalry Series for first time in four years

If USA Hockey has its way, it will do something that hasn’t happened in nearly half a decade.

Coming into Saskatoon on Wednesday night, the Americans have a chance to close out the series with a victory. The Americans jumped out to a 3-0 lead, and nearly closed things out before Canada won in the shootout in Sarnia a few weeks back.

While the Americans still have a stranglehold on the series, Canada has outplayed the U.S. The Canadians have led in shots in each of the four games, but the Americans have been efficient.

That said, the Canadians aren’t unfamiliar with this scenario. They fell behind 3-0 last season before pulling off the reverse sweep. USA Hockey hopes to avoid that same fate this year.

Knight leads the series with six points, but hasn’t had the same success in the PWHL with just two points in six games with Boston. But the timing couldn’t be better for Alex Carpenter, who leads the series in goals with three and the PWHL in points with 11.

If Canada is going to pull this off, they’ll need a much-improved effort from its power play. With superstars like Sarah Nurse, Blayre Turnbull, Erin Ambrose and Marie-Philip Poulin, the team has somehow gone 0-18 with the play advantage. Their penalty kill was solid, but the Americans have scored three power-play goals on 17 chances.

If there is anything the Americans need to be sure to continue to do, it’s to grind down Poulin like they did in the first two segments. Captain Canada didn’t get on the scoresheet over the first four games, and was targeted by a stacked U.S. blueline. However, her confidence has grown since the beginning of the PWHL season, sitting second with six goals.

The two teams are going with primarily familiar names, but Kendall Coyne Schofield, who was on maternity leave during the first two windows, returns to the Americans’ lineup. Jesse Compher and Maureen Murphy will also be making their season debuts to help bolster the team’s depth.

One notable omission for the Americans is Abbey Murphy. After registering four points in four games, the University of Minnesota product is staying behind, focusing on her collegiate season with the Golden Gophers.

Natalie Spooner, who is leading the PWHL in goals with seven, will return to Canada after last representing her nation at the 2023 World Championship in Brampton. Her Toronto teammate, Victoria Bach is back after receiving her teaching certificate, which kept her out of action for the first month of the PWHL season. Like Spooner, New York captain Micah Zandee-Hart is back in the Canadian lineup for the first time since last year’s women’s Worlds. She missed the first five contests this season while recovering from surgery.

Madison Bizal, Maggie Flaherty, Taylor Girard and Brittyn Fleming will make their team debuts after strong starts to the PWHL season,

Don’t be surprised if Canada goes with Ann-Renée Desbiens in Game 5. The Clermont, Quebec native has been clutch for her country when it matters most, similar to how Kim St-Pierre was back in the day. She played in the previous two games of the series, and while she was not tested as much as her American counterparts, Desbiens had to make some big saves to give Canada a chance.

The U.S. has split the series’ opening games between two usual suspects. Aerin Frankel had the bulk of action in the first and third games of the series, making 35 saves in Game 1 before stopping 32 of the 34 shots she faced in Kitchener in Game 3. John Wroblewski could ride with Frankel again on Wednesday to try and close things out.

Game 5 is at the Sasktel Centre in Saskatoon (8 p.m. ET, TSN, NHL Network), while Game 6 will occur on Friday at the Brandt Centre in Regina (8 p.m. ET, TSN, NHL Network). The series’ final game will be at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul this Sunday (2 p.m. ET, TSN, NHL Network).