BRAMPTON, Ont. – Two games into the 2023 IIHF Women’s World Championship and Marie-Philip Poulin has added her name to Team Canada’s record books.
Coming off a 4-0 tournament-opening win over Switzerland on Wednesday, the Canadians grabbed another three points after beating Czechia 5-1 on Friday night at the CAA Centre.
The Czechs, fresh off a 2-1 win over Japan on Thursday afternoon, put up a good fight but were ultimately unable to provide an answer for Canada’s offensive edge.
Slated as the last game of the day, the two national women’s teams met for the first time in history. As a result of Czechia’s bronze medal finish in 2022 – a feat they had never accomplished to that point – the country finally earned a spot in Group A to guarantee a meeting with Canada.
But the history making didn’t stop there.
Captain Poulin scored the game-opening goal at 8:03 to record her 100th career goal in the red and white, joining the likes of Hayley Wickenheiser, Jayna Hefford and Danielle Goyette in the century club.
A pass up ice from Brianne Jenner saw a two-on-none opportunity breakout for Poulin and Blayre Turnbull. Rushing to the net and beating out their defenders, Turnbull sent the puck across to Poulin who buried it top shelf.
“I was pretty lucky to be a part of that milestone for her but definitely wasn’t thinking about that as we were heading up,” said Turnbull on how the goal came about. “She deked the pants off the goalie. (It) was a pretty special goal but I think one that’s pretty standard for her where she’s got such good hands in tight that she can make those plays.”
When asked what the captain means to the group, Turnbull continued to praise her teammate.
“She means everything to our group. I think she is the perfect example of someone who leads by example day in and day out, on and off the ice," Turnbull said. "We’re so lucky to have her as our captain. I think it all has to do with her work ethic, like she’s never satisfied with how good she is, despite always being the best player in the world. I think it’s really inspiring to be teammates with someone like that, who keeps pushing and keeps wanting to improve.”
Poulin, as per usual, was extremely humble when talking about her milestone.
"It is a special group, for sure, and it's really an honour for me," she said. "But we're far from our goal. … At the end of the day, it's about the team."
Following Poulin’s memorable marker, each side scored one more goal to close out the period.
Czechia’s Natalie Mlynkova, a 21-year-old currently playing in the NCAA, got one past Canadian goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens to tie the game. Less than 30 seconds later, Canada regained the lead when Renata Fast scored off a wrist shot from the right circle.
The opening 20 minutes set the tone for a game of high energy, compete and unrelenting pressure, as the teams got right back to it for the remaining 40.
“(Czechia) made things difficult for sure,” pointed out Canada coach Troy Ryan. “They were physical and willing to play physical against us. I thought at times late in the first period we got away from what makes us successful. But you just learn any time you’re playing a new opponent and kind of gather information and try to make little changes throughout, and I thought we were able to do that.”
Yes, they were.
Turnbull put Canada up by two with just over a minute left to play in the second after her tip of teammate Jocelyn Larocque’s shot through traffic made its way past Czech goaltender Blanka Skodova. It was the lone goal of the period, but the third started off hot with another tally from Poulin to fire up the home crowd and put the captain up to 101 career goals at the international level.
A string of penalties over the final 20 – the majority to Canada – gave both sides chances to keep generating, but the teams’ respective penalty killers managed to keep every power play goalless. After taking six penalties against Switzerland, Canada took another five in this game and at one point gave Czechia a five-on-three opportunity.
Canada’s fifth and final goal of the night was scored at 14:40 of the third by Jaime Bourbonnais. Named as the secondary assist, Turnbull earned her team-leading fourth point of the night.
“I felt good”, said Turnbull. “I like playing those games where we play a physical opponent. I think it works out better for me and my style, but it’s fun to get in on the forechecks and to have the pressure on us like they gave us. It was a fun game to be a part of and lucky that I got rewarded a bit.
Although Czechia took the loss, the team never once looked lost when playing against a powerhouse like Canada. Speaking about their play after the game, Czechia’s head coach Carla MacLeod (a 2010 Olympic gold medalist with Canada) was undeniably proud of her team’s efforts.
“I thought we just came in with confidence and a desire to compete and play,” MacLeod said.
When asked how it felt to coach against her former team, MacLeod expressed gratefulness for the opportunity.
“It didn’t really hit me until I got to hug all of them at the end and you realize how they’re all your friends and many were teammates and others I’d coached," she said. "(I’m) just really proud to be in that moment and get that experience. This sport is so great. I’m probably the luckiest one on the planet that I’ve been able to be a player for Canada and now I get to coach the Czechs.”
Canada is right back at it on Saturday against Japan while Czechia is set to face USA on Sunday.
Elsewhere at the tournament:
USA 9, Switzerland 1
The United States are also 2-0 in Group A after a dominant win over Switzerland on Friday morning. The U.S.’s Abbey Murphy quickly opened the scoring just seven seconds into the game, setting a tournament record for the fastest goal all-time. The Americans then scored six more times unanswered before Switzerland finally got themselves on the board after a goal from Rahel Enzler midway through the third.
It marked Switzerland’s first goal against the U.S. since April 6, 2008. Inevitably, the final 10 minutes of the game saw the U.S. light the lamp twice more. Caroline Harvey led the team in goals (two) while Abby Roque led in points (four). Murphy was another offensive standout, along with Taylor Heise and Cayla Barnes, as the trio recorded three points apiece. Swiss goaltender Saskia Maurer stopped 45-of-54 shots.
Finland 3, Germany 0
Finland sits atop Group B after shutting out Germany in the second game of the day. Both going in with one win, the teams met for the first time in six years.
The first goal of the game came from Finland’s Rosa Lindstedt, who scored on the power play after a setup from teammate Jenni Hiirikoski (playing in her 400th career game for Finland). Finland made it 2-0 just over two minutes later when Emilia Vesa got another one past Johanna May, the German goaltender making her Women’s Worlds debut.
The Finns added to their lead with a tally from Viivi Vainikka nearly halfway through the second, and the game’s scoring ended up stopping there. While May saved every shot she faced for the remainder of the game – and 40-of-43 shots overall – Germany was unable to generate any offence.
