Canada avenges PyeongChang defeat to U.S. in women's ice hockey final

Canada took down defending champions the United States 3-2 in the women's ice hockey final for their fifth Olympic title, while Norway consolidated its leading position on the medal table after claiming gold in the combined team event on Thursday, reported Xinhua.

Canada lost to the U.S. 3-2 through a shootout in the final at the PyeongChang 2018. The two countries have split all the seven gold medals since women's ice hockey entered the Winter Olympic program in 1998.

"To be honest, I think the loss in 2018 was a motivation for us to change things. When you are on the same page, and when everybody wants to succeed, it makes me different," said Marie-Philip Poulin, the captain of Canada.

Canadian forward Sarah Nurse scored at 7:50, which was her fifth goal in Beijing. The 30-year-old Poulin put the puck into the net at 15:02 to widen the lead to 2-0 in the first period, becoming the only hockey player, female or male, to score in four Olympic gold medal games after the finals in Vancouver 2010, Sochi 2014 and PyeongChang 2018.

Poulin scored her sixth goal in Beijing at 29:08, before American forward Hilary Knight netted at 36:39 to cut the deficit to 3-1, and forward Amanda Kessel scored their last goal at 59:47 in power play.

Canada set a new scoring record of 57 goals in seven games in the Winter Olympics.