Sochi 2014 - Women's Gameday 3 Part 1

Finland v Switzerland 4-3 OT - Finland narrowly overcame a spirited Switzerland side 4-3. Switzerland started the match with a power-play proficiency of zero percent and seemed incapable of penetrating throughout the opening exchanges. The recent 9-0 thrashing against USA certainly looked to be on the team's mind as the match got underway. Finland started strongly and took the lead after eight minutes. Jenni Hiirikoski scored from Mira Jalosuo's pass, setting up another difficult challenge for the Swiss. Michelle Karvinen made it 2-0 before 10 minutes had elapsed after the assist from Susanna Tapani, but with 35 seconds left in the first period, Switzerland came close to its first success after a goalmouth scramble. The Swiss finally notched their opening goal of the tournament shortly after the first intermission. Nicole Bullo's pass across goal was clipped home by Romy Eggimann, giving the strugglers hope. Finland then lost Emma Terho for two minutes after she was called for holding, something Switzerland quickly took advantage of. A flurry of action pressured the Finnish goalmouth, but Phoebe Stanz calmly equalised during the power play. It then became four-on-four after some tough contact from Sandra Thalmann, who was given a two-minute penalty for interference. The bad tempers continued. Evelina Raselli was thrown out of the game after raising her leg in a melee with Annina Rajahuhta, who dumped Raselli on her back before the decisive reaction. Finland made the most of the penalty and went 3-2 up after 35 minutes. Karvinen quickly restored the nation's advantage during a one-player power play, once again assisted by Tapani. Laura Benz suffered a two-minute penalty at the onset of the third period for the Swiss before Rajahuhta joined her on the bench. Stefanie Marty rekindled Swiss hopes with a frantic goal during the power play, assisted by Bullo. Despite their fine effort, it was Hiirikoski who broke Swiss hearts in overtime. She launched her body toward the puck deep on her opponents' line and just managed to steer the pass in. A fantastic finish. While Finland's first victory of the competition will certainly be celebrated after such a hard-fought battle, they narrowly overcame a Switzerland side that just hasn't been able to keep up with the fast-paced, brutal play of Group A. Both USA and Canada highlighted their strengths against the European nations but are set to do battle against each other in the group decider. For the Swiss, the loss to Finland is another example of a team that couldn't muster enough during its preliminary showing. Three straight defeats suggest there is plenty of work to do if the team is to progress in future tournaments. Although Finland gave a resilient account of themselves, the Games' top teams won't be quaking in their skates.
USA v Canada 2-3 - Canada entered the third period of its final preliminary round game of the women's hockey tournament at the 2014 Sochi Olympics facing a ton of questions about itself. After a dominating showing in the period it was the Canadians' opponent, the United States, doing the soul searching. Canada scored three goals in the final 20 minutes for a come-from-behind 3-2 victory Wednesday at Shayba Arena in the latest edition of this white-hot rivalry. Before Wednesday Canada had lost four consecutive pre-Olympic games to the Americans, who seemed to be taking charge of a rivalry which has been dominated by Canada. Hayley Wickenheiser had been unceremoniously replaced as captain of the team in the months leading up to this competition. The original coach, Dan Church, resigned in the days leading up to Sochi, replaced at the last minute by Kevin Dineen, the former Florida Panthers coach taking his first stab at the women's game. Then the Canadian team struggled to beat Finland in its previous game, playing to a scoreless tie into the third period. When Hilary Knight scored on a U.S. power play in the second period Wednesday, Canada trailed in the Olympics for the first time in more than 1,000 minutes of game play. Its 18-game Olympic win streak was hanging by a thread as the second intermission began. Suddenly the gold-standard program in women's hockey looked vulnerable, no longer a sure bet to win gold as it had done in each of the past four Olympic tournaments. Not surprisingly the Americans, fueled by a wave of young, brash, skilled players, looked primed to turn the rivalry on its axis. But the proud Wickenheiser, still an alternate captain for the Canadians, dipped into her legendary bag of tricks to say not so fast.

"It was very calm. We said come like waves of red and come at them." Wickenheiser said of the scene in the Canada locker room during the second intermission.

Wickenheiser then did what a leader must; she led by example. First she set up Meghan Agosta for the tying goal early in the third period on the power play. Then 93 seconds later Wickenheiser put the Canadians ahead with the help of a little bit of divine providence. Her apparently harmless wrist shot hit off American goalie Jessie Vetter and fell to the ice. It appeared teammate Alex Carpenter was trying to push the puck under Vetter's pads but it went into the net. The only problem was it crossed the line after the Finnish referee, Anna Eskola, blew the whistle. However, the goal stood after video review and Canada was in the lead; the United States was on its heels, reeling from a deadly counterpunch from a crafty veteran whose team had been on the ropes. Now the Americans were reeling; they never recovered. Agosta scored again, this time on a breakaway, and it took the Americans more than 15 minutes to register their first shot on goal of the period. A late goal by defenseman Anne Schleper made things interesting, but that was all.

Agosta said "We knew that we were down by one but we had them where we wanted them. We just needed to pop one early and continue battling. That's what we did. Once we got one we got a few and it ended up that we were on top."

The questions dogging Canada heading into the tournament were answered, at least for a day. They beat their fiercest rival and did so in a demoralizing way. The message has been sent as these two rivals head to the semifinals in opposite brackets, believing they will meet again for the gold medal in a week's time.

Wickenheiser said "It's a big win, but ultimately it is a battle and the war is still to be played. We know that. But every game we play nobody wants to lose."

It is now time for the Americans to begin framing their response.

Julie Chu, one of the most experienced players on the American team and a veteran of countless U.S.-Canada skirmishes said "For us, it is important to have a good night. We have to decompress from this, learn a lot and have some good practices. Our next focus is our semifinal game. … If we do face them [Canada] later on it is going to be a battle. It always is and that is something that we embrace."