HERNING, Denmark — Canada defended its title with a 2-1 victory over the United States in the women’s hockey world championship final Sunday.
Brianne Jenner scored twice in the second period and goalkeeper Ann-Renée Desbiens made 20 saves in net for Canada.
Abby Roque scored for the Americans with Nicole Hensley stopping 17 shots in the loss.
The Canadians won gold in a third major international event in the space of a year.
They beat the United States 3-2 in overtime just over a year ago in Calgary in a world championship delayed in August because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Canada also beat the USA 3-2 in February’s Olympic women’s hockey final in Beijing.
This Canadian team was a work in progress throughout the tournament in Denmark as head coach Troy Ryan juggled his forward lines looking for chemistry.
Both Canada and the United States returned 18 players from their Olympic rosters. The Americans seemed to absorb the lineup changes there faster than Canada.
The U.S. went undefeated in the finals, including a 5-2 win over their opponent in the preliminary round, with a goal differential of 47-plus compared to Canada’s 22-plus.
In addition to moving the puck faster and cleaner than in the loss to the USA, Canada also defended more tenaciously in the box between and under faceoffs.
Trailing 2-1, the U.S. came close to pulling even with a pair of power-play chances in the third period, and also in a furious final minute with Hensley pulled by an extra attacker.
But a composed Desbiens held the charge in the third period as Canada was outscored 12-6.
Canada and the United States have met in the finals of all but one World Championship since the inaugural tournament in Ottawa in 1990. Canada lost to Finland in the 2019 semifinals.
Canada led 2-0 on a pair of quick goals by Jenner until Roque cut the deficit in half with his fourth power-play goal of the tournament at 19:39 of the second period.
Amanda Kessel drew Canadian defenders and Desbiens to her and slipped a goalmouth pass to an out-of-control Roque to score.
Jenner’s nine goals at the Winter Olympics in February matched a tournament record, but the veteran didn’t score at the world championships until Saturday’s semifinal win over Switzerland.
Jenner beat Hensley with a wrist shot from under the dot for a power play goal at 10:54. Jenner scored her first from the same area, but from a sharper angle.
He collected a pass from Marie-Philip Poulin in the high boards, took the puck deep and handcuffed Hensley with a low shot to the far side at 9:30.
Canada outshot the United States 5-2 in a scoreless first period and went 0-2 on the power play.
American forward Alex Carpenter hit the crossbar with three minutes left in the period.
The 2023 women’s championship will be held in Canada in a city yet to be announced, followed by the United States in 2024.
Canada and the United States will also meet in a seven-game rivalry series this winter.
The International Ice Hockey Federation introduced a top-level women’s championship in the same year as the Olympic Games for the first time in 2022 to encourage federations to invest more consistently in women’s hockey.
The 10-nation field in Denmark was minus Russia after the IIHF banned it from international tournaments over that country’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Czech Republic reached the final four and the podium for the first time on Sunday, beating Switzerland 4-2 for the bronze medal.
The Czechs were coached in Denmark by Carla Macleod of Calgary, a former defender on the Canadian team.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on September 4, 2022