Canada downs USA 4-2 in women's Olympic hockey

Feb. 7 (UPI) -- The Canadian women's hockey team downed their American rivals 4-2 in Beijing on Tuesday in a rematch of the last Olympic gold medal game that saw Team USA dethrone the reigning four-time champions.

The win puts the Canucks at the top of the Group A standings with 12 points for a perfect four wins while handing the Americans their first and only loss of the tournament that puts them in second with 9 points as they go into the semifinals that start later this week.

Canada's Brianne Jenner netted two goals for the win with Captain Clutch Marie-Philip Poulin yet again making history by scoring the first-ever Olympic preliminary penalty shot goal.

For the American side, Dani Cameranesi and Alex Carpenter were the only ones able to beat Ann Renee Desbiens, who stood on her head the whole game.

The Americans pelted Desbiens with 53 shots, including 16 in the first period alone.

From the moment the puck dropped, the first period was tilted in the Americans' favor as the Canadians struggled to get out of their own end and were forced to make turnovers by the strong Yankees' forecheck.

"It was a little messy," Jenner told press following the game. "I think we got to learn a little bit from the way we came out in the first period and take the puck a little better."

Early on as the Americans were pressing, Abbey Murphy put a backhander on net that beat Desbiens but not the post in a shot that would come back to haunt them as not long later the Americans would go on the penalty kill following a cross check by Caroline Harvey.

During the ensuing power play, the lethal Canadians would convert, with Sarah Fillier behind the net snapping it out front to an uncovered Jenner in the slot who fired one home past Maddie Rooney.

The goal would give the Canadians life throughout the rest of the period.

In the second, Team USA would tie it up near the halfway mark with Kelly Pannek behind the net passing the puck into the slot where Cameranesi took a quick shot that Desbiens turned away.

However, the Minneapolis native was quick on her own rebound and fired it into the gaping cage to put the Americans on the board.

Not long after, Canada's Emily Clark took a penalty sending the Americans to the power play, who is fourth in the tournament with a success rate of about 21%.

On a rush play, Amanda Kessel made a cross slot pass to an open Carpenter who snapped a backhander over the glove of Desbiens to give the Americans a 2-1 lead.

But the scoring would keep coming in the second, and Canada responded less than a minute later with Jenner netting her second of the game from the high slot off a pass from Sarah Nurse who was streaking toward, tying the game at twos.

Less than two minutes later, Jamie Lee Rattray would put Canada back on top with a goal scored from in close off a rebound caused by a Natalie Spooner wraparound.

Before the period was done, Poulin caught a cross ice pass in her own end and went streaking down the ice on a breakaway, forcing a trailing Cayla Barnes to take a hooking penalty, which awarded the Canadian captain a penalty shot.

With speed, Poulin came down the left side of the ice and cut back into the center of the slot, forcing Rooney to follow her right. With daylight showing between Rooney's right pad and the post, Poulin put it home, lifting her team to a 4-2 lead.

Down by two in the third, the Americans pushed firing a total of 21 shots on Desbiens who shut the door. In the same frame, Canadians were only able to produce six shots.

A bad tripping penalty by Blayre Turnbull in the dying minutes of the game, saw the Americans firing on all cylinders.

Rooney was pulled for the extra man, and the Americans kept their rivals hemmed in their own end for much of the last few minutes, but good shot blocking by the Canadians and stellar goalkeeping by Desbiens frustrated the Americans who couldn't pot one.

The shots were 53 to 27 for the Americans.

"I think we need to have better shots," said Team USA alternate captain Hilary Knight following the game. "We need to find the back of the net to win a game and we obviously weren't good enough."

Neither the Canadians nor the Americans had faced much a challenge up until that point in the tournament, and Knight said for her team the match was a good way to gauge where they are at.

"It's wonderful to have this game as a measuring stick and see what works but doesn't work and go back to the drawing board, wipe it clean at 12 a.m. and get back to work for this tournament," she said.

Canada's preliminary record for the Olympics improves to a 20-1-0 record with the only lose being to the United States in 1998.

However, they are seeking redemption after losing the gold medal to the Americans in Pyeongchang, ending their four-gold-medal streak.

And it is likely the two teams will meet again in this year's gold medal game.

"Every time we play these guys it's an entertaining game and, you know, there are a lot of respect for that over there, but we're kind of focused on us right now and the next game ahead of us, and we'll see if we see them again," Jenner said.