Attention shifts to quarterfinal matchup with Germany after Canadian women’s bounce-back win over Finland
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Olympic rookie Jenn Gardiner played only a touch over six minutes in Canada’s 5-0 loss to the Americans on Tuesday, less than any other forward.
Two days later, she scored the game winner in a dominant, 5-0 win over the Finns.
It was one of two goals Canada got from its fourth line in the game — Kristin O’Neill added the other — which ended the preliminary round. It set up quarterfinal matchup with Germany on Saturday.
There’s been plenty of talk about how Canada hasn’t been able to match the youthful firepower of the U.S. Perhaps some answers could lie at the bottom of Canada’s lineup.
Gardiner, O’Neill and Julia Gosling have combined for nine points at this tournament, but haven’t seen a ton of ice time.
At 24, Gardiner is the youngest player on this roster, after being the second-leading scorer at the last world championship on a line with Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura Stacey. Gosling, who is also 24, has one of the best shots in women’s hockey.
O’Neill, 27, has speed in spades and is an ace in the faceoff circle. Only Poulin and American Alex Carpenter have won more faceoffs in the PWHL this season.
“[I’m] doing anything I can whenever I get the opportunity to have an impact for this team, whether that’s on the ice, off the ice, just being a good teammate, carrying myself the right way,” Gardiner told CBC Olympics reporter Claire Hanna after the win over Finland.
Emily Clark scored twice as Canada frustrated Finland 5-0 in both teams’ final Olympic preliminary round game.
“It was super fun to get to play today and score a goal, and just really excited for our team win. I think we had a great game all around. We’re going to continue building for the next game here and we’re excited for the direction we’re headed.”
The Canadian coaching staff opted to bring defender Kati Tabin to the Olympics over a player like Chloe Primerano, partly because they felt Tabin could defend better in big moments.
The team felt it could use Tabin’s ability after a four-game sweep at the hands of the U.S. in the Rivalry Series, hockey analyst and two-time Olympic gold medallist Cheryl Pounder said on the game’s broadcast.
But Tabin has been used as the seventh defender, rarely seeing the ice in tense moments.
“If that’s what you need, insert her in those moments,” Pounder said.
‘More quality shots’
The win over Finland was the bounce back Canada needed after the loss to the Americans, which was the first time Canada had ever been shut out at the Olympics.
The photo below shows how much better Canada was on Thursday at getting shots closer to the opposing team’s net.
The illustration on the left shows the shots against the U.S. on Tuesday, compared to the one on the right, which shows the shots against Finland’s goaltender.
In the U.S. game, the Canadians struggled to generate anything dangerous close to the U.S. net. When they shot from the perimeter, the fast-skating American defence would quickly transition the puck back the other way.
It was a dramatically different story on Thursday against Finland, when Canada did a much better job of getting deep into the offensive zone and setting up.
“I think as a team, [we were] just taking more pride in getting pucks into dangerous areas,” said Canadian forward Emily Clark, who had two goals in the win. “Obviously we want to get more quality shots, and I think we did that today.”
Daryl Watts also scored for Canada, adding her second of the tournament. She’s built chemistry with Sarah Fillier, and Canada will need that connection to bear fruit going forward.
Turnbull, a three-time Olympian, is on Team Canada’s women’s hockey team. Her family says no matter how high she climbs, she always remembers the community that helped support her start.
“They’re dynamic players that see the game a little different than a lot of other players do,” head coach Troy Ryan said about Watts and Fillier.
Ryan said he was proud to see Watts and Fillier playing responsive defensive hockey against the Finns.
“You saw tonight both of them had a number of blocked shots, [playing] more of a complete game, and then their talent gets to show on the offensive side,” he said.
Ann-Renée Desbiens made 17 saves in the shutout.
Canada was again without its captain, Poulin, who sustained a lower-body injured in a win over Czechia earlier in the tournament.
Poulin skated on Thursday with a coach and the medical staff, and Ryan was optimistic that she’ll return at some point.
“She felt well, obviously not good enough right now to put her in the game,” he said. “An extra couple days will do her justice.”
Win or go home
The next step toward getting back to a gold-medal game is the quarterfinals, where Canada will face Germany on Saturday at 10:40 a.m. You can watch all the action on CBC and CBC Gem.
Germany is ranked eighth in the world. Their goaltender, Sandra Abstreiter, backs up Desbiens on the Montreal Victoire, meaning she’ll be familiar with some of Canada’s shooters.
Ryan also knows the German team’s coach, Jeff MacLeod. Both are from Nova Scotia.
“I know they’ll be well coached,” Ryan said. “We just expect a good competition.”
Other quarterfinal match-ups include the U.S. and Italy, Sweden and Czechia, and Switzerland and Finland. The winners will move on to the semifinals.
“This whole tournament is all about getting better every single game,” Clark said. “I think we had a lot of areas to improve on today and we made some great strides in that. I think it’s just continuing to get better every game and taking each game as they come.”
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