Photo courtesy of USA Hockey on X.
WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah- International hockey took the stage at the Maverik Center as the Women’s National Teams for the United States and Canada faced off in the second of five games in the 2024-2025 edition of the Canada/USA Rivalry Series. Game two of this year’s rivalry series will not be the first time that these two teams have faced off on this ice. During the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, USA and Canada clashed in the Women’s Gold Medal Game, where Canada came out on top by a score of 3-2.
Our lineup against 🇨🇦 for tonight 👊#RivalrySeries, presented by @Discover 🇺🇸
Lines → https://t.co/ssKN0ifgCA pic.twitter.com/1mxLYb5ISG
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) November 9, 2024
Game one took place at the Tech CU Arena in San Jose, California on November 6. The United States set the tone for the series with a dominant 7-2 win and looked to continue their momentum at the Maverik Center. Team USA looks to avenge their series loss in 2023-24 after Canada rattled off four wins in a row to erase a three-game deficit to take home the trophy.
Canada opened the scoring quickly when Laura Stacey received a pass and put a backhanded shot on goal.
Now THAT'S how you get things started! 🚨
C’est ce qu’on appelle un bon départ! 🚨#RivalrySeries | #SérieDeLaRivalité | @LauraStacey7 pic.twitter.com/7z7koXh69l
— Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) November 9, 2024
A few minutes later, USA went on their first powerplay of the night after a checking penalty, but Canada were able to kill it. The middle of the first period moved slowly as both teams settled into the game, but just before the clock ran out on the first period, Grace Zumwinkle tied it up for USA with a redirect in front of the net.
We see that hand-eye coordination, Zumwinkle 👀#RivalrySeries, presented by @Discover 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/FREMifTqyU
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) November 9, 2024
The second period was all Canada, as they took control of the game with two more goals. The first came less than a minute into the period.
USA was on the power play from a penalty that carried over from the first period, but on their push, they gave up the puck to Canada on a breakaway, resulting in their second goal.
Canada’s second goal came after a penalty-ridden 15 minutes for both teams. With 52 seconds remaining, the United States lost possession on their own end and Laura Stacey put in her second of the night, skating across the face of goal before sending it past the diving Nicole Hensley.
Make it ✌️!
Et de ✌️!#RivalrySeries | #SérieDeLaRivalité | @LauraStacey7 pic.twitter.com/SNQKHPYEfK
— Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) November 9, 2024
The hole only got deeper for Team USA as Joy Dunne committed an interference penalty, giving Emma Maltais a chance to put a power-play goal in the back of the net.
Now with only eight minutes remaining, Canada was defending a 4-1 lead, and Team USA would put themselves in the penalty box for seven more minutes down the stretch with an interference penalty and a minute major boarding penalty.
However, even with the odds stacked against a comeback, the United States scored three times in the last six minutes to send the game to overtime.
Let's start overtime off the right way with every goal from the third 👀👀#RivalrySeries, presented by @Discover 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/djChJWhwGE
— USA Hockey (@usahockey) November 9, 2024
Both teams traded chances in the five-minute overtime period, but it would ultimately pass without a game-winning goal, sending this thriller to a penalty shootout.
In the five-round shootout, Canada would score twice and the United States would fail to put one in the back of the net. The game-winning shot came on a beautiful move from Chloe Primerano.
CHLOE PRIMERANO WITH THE SHOOTOUT WINNER! 🤯
CHLOE PRIMERANO MARQUE LE BUT GAGNANT EN TIRS DE BARRAGE! 🤯#RivalrySeries | #SérieDeLaRivalitépic.twitter.com/svclkqsOWT
— Hockey Canada (@HockeyCanada) November 9, 2024
While the result was not what the Team USA fans wanted to see, they certainly got their money’s worth with some late-game heroics. And with so many young hockey players in attendance, many of them girls, the coaches and players saw the game as an opportunity to grow the sport and inspire the younger generation, particularly here in Utah.
“I really hope that players see that Hilary Knight trains here in the summer,” USA Head Coach John Wroblewski said about hockey in Utah, “A lot of our girls, a lot of our younger players, they come from not your traditional hockey hotbeds of Minnesota or Boston. I’m excited for when we start to see more and more players popping up from what you wouldn’t call the hockey hotbeds.”
With talented players throughout the hockey world for young athletes to look up to, along with the growth locally with the announcement of the Utah Hockey Club introducing youth hockey initiatives, the game has a lot of room to grow.
