Key events
Canadian defenders collapsing on whoever has the puck … wait … what???
USA pull the goalie
Analytics insist it’s the right call. Right?
USA 0-1 Canada, 2:25 left. Is this a timeout? Can someone make an announcement? Why are we stopped?
Frankel save. Canadian attacker whiffs on a shot. USA can’t get control. Now they get it behind the Canadian net and sit on it. Pause. 2:25.
USA across center ice, Bad pass, Canada clear to Maltais. 3:00
USA absorb a Canadian flurry. Clear. Reset. 3:30 left.
We’re at the point in the game in which I won’t be giving the score with every update.
Power play over with 4:22 left.
USA 0-1 Canada, 4:50, 3rd period: On another note, my “k” key was stuck as I tried to type “killers.”
USA still not letting Canada set up, though they concede a shot that hits Frankel’s mask. Finally, Frankel has to catch and hold, and Canada will have the puck in the USA zone.
USA 0-1 Canada, 5:33, 3rd period: So it’s a Canadian power play, but the USA penalty-killers are aggressive and disruptive.
USA 0-1 Canada, 6:37, 3rd period: Desbiens in dangerous territory with a misplay behind her own net, but the USA can’t capitalize. Harvey and Winn play back and forth but can’t find any offensive help.
Rash hit near the boards by Curl on Ambrose, who remains down. It’s a penalty. It might not be a two-minute minor. They’ll review, and … it remains a minor penalty. Big concern dodged there by the USA.
USA 0-1 Canada, 7:30, 3rd period: I think the referees have forgotten the existence of the icing rule. That, or Canadian forwards are just so much faster than the US defense that they assume the Canadian can get there.
Has the speed difference just not been an issue in other recent games between these teams?
Long, unexplained stoppage here. Now we resume.
USA 0-1 Canada, 8:48, 3rd period: Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’ …
Still an eternity left in hockey terms, but is this starting to get away from the USA?
USA 0-1 Canada, 9:17, 3rd period: Stecklein has all day to shoot but still waits too long, and it’s blocked by Stacey.
Icing on Canada.
USA 0-1 Canada, 10:25, 3rd period: USA now leading in shots, 25-23.
USA 0-1 Canada, 10:45, 3rd period: For some reason, I’ve just remembered of the song Hit Somebody by the legendary Warren Zevon. It’s a story of a player who dreamed of being an offensive force but instead is trained to be a big-time brawler.
Not an option in women’s hockey.
USA 0-1 Canada, 12:00, 3rd period: But Canada continue to win most of the races for the puck, and this one leads to an open shot, albeit from an angle Frankel had well covered.
USA 0-1 Canada, 13:00, 3rd period: Harvey sends a speculative shot from the blue line. Knocked down. Another shot is blocked. Canada trying to weather the storm here.
USA 0-1 Canada, 13:58, 3rd period: The US attack has truly found the plot. Crisp cross-ice passes. An aggressive forecheck.
Desbiens snags a shot with her glove and hangs on to give her defense a chance to reset.
USA 0-1 Canada, 15:45, 3rd period: Winn holds the puck behind her own net while players change and catch their breaths. This is frenetic action.
USA 0-1 Canada, 17:30, 3rd period: We should call this end-to-end stuff now. This won’t end 1-0.
USA 0-1 Canada, 18:30, 3rd period: It’s a brighter start for the USA. Has Harvey come off the ice at all?
USA 0-1 Canada, 19:38, 3rd period: “They’re looking for offense,” commentators say of the USA. Indeed. Little wonder the puck has gone to Harvey.
Sharpe has waved to the crowd, and coincidentally, I’ve just received a bunch of email …
Several people have complained that I noted the incredibly strong hockey team that would exist if Canada and the USA merged. But is that not true? Not saying it would be a good idea for thousands of other reasons, but as one reader noted, all other competition would be meaningless.
Max Bilson: “As a Canadian with very British roots I thank you for a very entertaining minute by minute while I sit here at work somewhere north of the 49th parallel. The mbm has not made its way over here – so I either have to break the rules and stream the game (which as the boss I would have to enforce against myself) or… find another source.”
I can attest that people in the USA are well-versed in finding creative ways to not work.
Gilbert Tagalog: “This strategy is the hockey equivalent of Ali’s rope a dope when he bested foreman in the rumble in the jungle in ‘74 Zaire (DRC). Back then it was an aging but still gifted fighter against a younger and more fancied opponent. Much like today’s game? Hoping the Canadian women can strike a blow for their team and their nation today – floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee?”
We’ve resumed.
Not really inclined to do my usual intermission banter while we’re awaiting a good sign from Sharpe.
In terms of this game – if the USA equalize, I’d bet Caroline Harvey is involved. She’s playing with another gear her teammates don’t seem to have so far.
Unfortunate news for Canada in the main blog – ski halfpipe star Cassie Sharpe has had a bad crash.
End 2nd period: USA 0-1 Canada
Bad US giveaway, Stacey gets it, and Frankel has to cover. Not sure if anyone is doing advanced stats for this game, but the giveaways have to be at least 2-1 in “favor” of the sloppy US team.
That’s the end of the period. The positives for the USA are that they’re getting some solid chances, and Frankel has kept the score from being worse than 1-0. The negatives are everything else, including the scoreboard.
USA 0-1 Canada, 44.6, 2nd period: Haley Winn puts a solid shot on net, and Canada have to clear the rebound.
USA reclaim and get it back on Desbiens, who has to cover up. Much better from the USA here.
USA 0-1 Canada, 2:00, 2nd period: Canada’s Claire Thompson gets possession and drives almost perpendicular to Frankel but is stopped.
Canada are just playing faster and smarter.
USA 0-1 Canada, 3:30, 2nd period: Shots now 18-16 in favor of Canada, responding after the US had taken the lead in that stat.
Cameras longer on a fan who made a great catch when a puck went sailing into the stands. A couple of people from my curling club are in the stands somewhere as well. Maybe they’re chatting with Tom Brady.
Harvey tries to thread the puck through about five Canadian hockey players and probably Rachel Homan and Tracy Fleury as well. Not happening.
Quick reminder that Frankel is nicknamed the Green Monster by appreciative fans in Boston, where she played college hockey and now plays professionally:
USA 0-1 Canada, 4:40, 2nd period: HUGE SAVE BY FRANKEL as Canada just pick apart the US defense.
USA 0-1 Canada, 5:05, 2nd period: Icing on the USA.
Imagine the hockey team that would be unleashed if Canada really did join the USA.
USA 0-1 Canada, 5:35, 2nd period: Tom Brady is chatting with Mike Eruzione. Seth Meyers is here. No Canadian celebrities? Where’s Geddy Lee? Or Dave Foley?
Frankel hangs on after a bad US giveaway leads to an quick shot from the blue line.
USA 0-1 Canada, 5:47, 2nd period: CHANCE! And ANOTHER CHANCE! Shot from the circle, deflected, Curl-Salemme gets a stick to it but flips it over the net.
USA 0-1 Canada, 6:50, 2nd period: If you’re a fan of counterattacking soccer, you might appreciate what Canada are doing here. Five players packed back near the goal. They might give up a shot, they might give up possession, but they’ve already shown how devastating they can be when they intercept and take off.
USA 0-1 Canada, 8:42, 2nd period: Caroline Harvey has decided to start carrying this team, and it’s not a bad strategy. She sets up one shot, recollects and recycles the puck.
USA 0-1 Canada, 9:10, 2nd period: The USA are putting a lot of players in front of the Canadian net. The positive outcome from such a tactic is that a shot can be deflected into the net. The negative outcome is that it can be blocked away from it.
USA 0-1 Canada, 10:40, 2nd period: Could the momentum be changing a little? Maybe? They get a sustained possession, but Canada tie things up along the boards and kick it back like a rugby player sending it back from the scrum, and Canada calmly clear.
USA 0-1 Canada, 11:55, 2nd period: Now THAT is a chance that deflects up and hovers in the air near the Canadian goal.
And then there’s a giveaway that sends Canada going the other way, and the USA are lucky that so many players were streaking back to fall on top of the puck.
USA 0-1 Canada, 12:30, 2nd period: The US players either haven’t adjusted to the fact that Canadian players are busily buzzing around them, or they’re so unnerved by it that they don’t know what to do with the puck.
The shots are even at 10 each, but the USA had a headstart in that stat, and Desbiens hasn’t had much to do.
USA 0-1 Canada, 14:48, 2nd period: We have our first post-whistle shoving. Canada was called for offside, but no one could hear the whistle. I’m a soccer ref – shall I loan them mine? The commentators note that it’s loud in there, but come on … this isn’t Detroit.
USA 0-1 Canada, 15:26, 2nd period: Best chance of the game for the USA, with a neat pass to a player on the doorstep who sends it to the ceiling.
USA 0-1 Canada, 15:30, 2nd period: I’m starting to think the USA should get curling skip Tabitha Peterson, who hit a clutch draw earlier today to get the USA to the semifinals and beat the dominant Canadian team earlier in the Games, to come in and give the second-intermission pep talk.