Marie-Philip Poulin scored twice and had an assist to pace Canada to an 8-1 semifinal win over Switzerland at the women’s world hockey championship Saturday.
Sarah Fillier had a goal and an assist for the Canadians, who will attempt to defend their world title and write another chapter in a historic rivalry with the United States in Sunday’s gold-medal game.
Sarah Nurse, Kristin O’Neill, Jessie Eldridge, Emily Clark and Brianne Jenner also scored and defender Ella Shelton had two assists. Canadian goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens stopped five shots for the win.
Defender Lara Christen scored for the depleted Swiss with Saskia Maurer turning away 48 shots in her first start of the tournament.
The U.S. is unbeaten in six games here, including a 5-2 win over Canada in the preliminary round.
Canada edged the U.S. 3-2 in overtime to win last year’s world championship and halt its archrival’s run of titles at five straight.
The Canadians then prevailed 3-2 in February’s Olympic final in Beijing for gold. They’d lost in a shootout to the U.S. four years earlier in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Canada may hold both titles, but the U.S. has been the better goal producer and also stingier in its own end than the Canadians.
The U.S. thumped Czechia 10-1 in Saturday’s earlier semifinal. The Americans have outshot their opposition 52-5 over six games so far this tournament, compared to Canada’s 30-8.
The U.S. has reached the final of every women’s championship since the inaugural tournament in Ottawa in 1990 and has won nine gold medals.
The only time Canada, winner of 11 gold, didn’t meet the U.S. in the final was in 2019 when it was upset in the semifinal by host Finland in Espoo.
Canadian head coach Troy Ryan continued to work different forward line combinations in Saturday’s semifinal shifting Sarah Potomak on to a line with Poulin and Jenner and slotting Victoria Bach alongside Eldridge and Emma Maltais.
Lara Stalder returned to Switzerland’s lineup after the captain spent four days in COVID-19 quarantine, but top forward Alina Mueller who also tested positive for the virus didn’t play Saturday.
The Swiss were also minus Noemi Ryhner (hand) and Laura Zimmermann (ankle) for the semifinal, which became chippy after Canadian defender Renata Fast’s check on Christen in the second period sent the Swiss defender to the locker room.
Swiss fans booed Fast every time she touched the puck for the rest of the game.
Poulin struck twice from the slot and Nurse got her stick on the puck in a goal-mouth scrum for a power- play goal in the third.
The Swiss trailed 4-0 when Christen scored on a two-man advantage in the second. She departed the ice in discomfort later in the period after she was checked by Fast in Switzerland’s zone.
O’Neill, Eldridge and Jenner all scored their first goals of the tournament for Canada on Saturday, while Fillier collected her team-leading fifth.
Czechia plays Switzerland for the bronze medal Sunday.
