Ann-Renee Desbiens became the first Canadian goaltender to face, and stop, a penalty shot at the women’s world hockey championship in a 4-1 win over Finland to open the tournament Thursday.
The 28-year-old from Clermont, Que., preserved Canada’s 2-1 lead when she stopped Kira Yrjanen on a penalty shot in the last second of the first period.
“That was huge,” defender Meagan Mikkelson said. “I said, right when they called the penalty shot, I turned to Jocelyne Larocque on the bench and said ‘she’s got this.’ She lives for these moments.”
Marie-Philip Poulin and Sarah Nurse each had goal and an assist for Canada, which is the defending champion having won the title a year ago in Calgary.
Mikkelson also scored and Blayre Turnbull added an empty-net goal at Kvik Hockey Arena. Desbiens stopped 16, shots including the penalty shot at a pivotal juncture in the game.
With her right pad, Desbiens repelled Yrjanen who skated in, backed into the Canadian goalie and then spun for a forehand try.
WATCH | Canada tops Finland to open tournament:
Canada opens up women’s worlds with a win over Finland
9 hours ago
Duration 2:32
Canada kicked off the IIHF women’s world championship tournament with a win, defeating Finland 4-1 Thursday.
“Definitely a move you don’t see too often in a game. Probably something more you see in practice,” Desbiens said. “You’ve just got to stay patient, see which way she’s going to go. Is she going to just shoot backhand and pull it on her forehand?”
Desbiens was unaware she’d executed a hockey first in her country’s history in the tournament.
“It think it was more important for me to just make that top and have that lead after the first period,” Desbiens said. “I love penalty shots. I love shootouts in practice. I think the girls know I love those moments, so I was ready for it.”
Sooooo close ????<br><br>Kiira Yrjanen almost ties it up with this penalty shot<br><br>Canada leads 2-1 heading into the second period<a href=”https://twitter.com/leijonat?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@leijonat</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/FINCAN?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#FINCAN</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/WomensWorlds?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#WomensWorlds</a> <a href=”https://t.co/GfKwMwlxV5″>pic.twitter.com/GfKwMwlxV5</a>
Canada faces Switzerland on Saturday and Japan on Sunday in back-to-back Pool A games. The Japanese opened with a 10-0 loss to the United States on Thursday.
Hungary doubled Germany 4-2 and Sweden beat host Denmark 5-2 in Pool B games.
Here are your standings after game day 1️⃣<a href=”https://twitter.com/usahockey?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@usahockey</a> & <a href=”https://twitter.com/Trekronorse?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@Trekronorse</a> are at the ???? <a href=”https://t.co/kKXgfg4KN6″>pic.twitter.com/kKXgfg4KN6</a>
Julia Likala scored Thursday for the Finns, who were bronze medallists last year in Calgary. Finnish goaltender Anni Keisala, who was named the 2021 championship’s top goalie, made 39 saves in the loss.
“We’re not happy with the way we played at all,” said Canadian head coach Troy Ryan. “Our first [period] wasn’t great, we were pleased with our second and the third was probably somewhere between the two, but it is the first game.”
Finland travelled fewer time zones to get to Herning, Denmark, than Canada, but was hampered by both a 1-for-5 power play and the ejection of top forward Petra Nieminen early in the first period for checking from behind.
“Of course she’s a big player for us, but it’s hockey,” said Finland captain Jenni Hiirikoski, who is playing in a record 14th world championship.
“We started really good and we had really good fighting spirit today, but small things we need to adjust and do better. Also better scoring.”
Big save by <a href=”https://twitter.com/Annikeisala?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@Annikeisala</a> ????<br><br>Canada leads 3-1 going into the third period <a href=”https://twitter.com/leijonat?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@leijonat</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/FINCAN?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#FINCAN</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/WomensWorlds?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#WomensWorlds</a> <a href=”https://t.co/XVTIKS3PBS”>pic.twitter.com/XVTIKS3PBS</a>
Finland’s power play couldn’t convert almost four straight minutes with an extra player — including a dozen seconds of five-on-three — into a goal at the end of the second period and the start of the third.
Mikkelson chipped in a rebound from an Ella Shelton shot for a 3-1 Canada lead at 13:01 of the second period.
The 37-year-old defender has returned to the national team after surgery and rehabilitation of a knee injury kept her out of February’s Winter Olympics. Mikkelson scored her first goal since the 2018 Winter Olympics.
“It felt amazing more so because it put us up 3-1,” she said. “It felt good to put on in the back of the net, especially my first game back in quite a while.”
Poulin scored the eventual winner at 14:51 of the first period. The captain skated the puck across the blue line and beat Keisala far side with a quick release for a 2-1 lead.
Likala pulled the Finns even in the final seconds of a Canadian penalty at 12:07 when she poked in a rebound during a goalmouth scramble.
Five minutes after the opening puck drop, Nieminen was slapped with a five-minute major and game misconduct for checking Canada’s Kristin O’Neill from behind.
Nurse scored a power-play goal 7:38 from the slot where she redirected a Poulin pass over Keisala’s glove.
The host Finns upset Canada 4-2 in the 2019 world championship semifinals in Espoo and went on to lose the final to the U.S. in a shootout. Canada has gone 5-0 against them since then.
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings signed forward Lucas Raymond to an eight-year, $64.6 million contract Monday, completing a deal with one of their best young players less than 72 hours before training camp begins.
Raymond will count $8.075 million against the salary cap through 2032. The 22-year-old was a restricted free agent without a contract for the upcoming NHL season and was coming off setting career highs with 31 goals, 41 assists and 72 points.
The Red Wings have another one of those in defenceman Moritz Seider, who won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2021-22.
Detroit is looking to end an eight-year playoff drought dating to the Original Six franchise’s last appearance in 2016.
Raymond, a Swede who was the fourth pick in 2020, has 174 points in 238 games since breaking into the league.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kirk Cousins led a flawless last-minute drive for Atlanta and connected with Drake London for a 7-yard touchdown with 34 seconds left to give the Falcons a 22-21 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night.
Saquon Barkley dropped a short pass that stopped the clock with 1:46 left and forced the Eagles to settle for a field goal instead of a game-sealing first down. That was plenty of time for Cousins — especially against an Eagles defense playing soft coverage with a nonexistent pass rush.
The 36-year-old veteran, playing his second game since tearing his Achilles tendon last Oct. 29 while playing for Minnesota, shook off an uneven effort and hit Darnell Mooney for 21 and 26 yards on consecutive plays during the decisive drive.
Cousins found London on a short pass to his right for the tying score, and Younghoe Koo put Atlanta (1-1) on top with a 48-yard extra point after London was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. The go-ahead drive took just 65 seconds.
Jalen Hurts had his final pass intercepted by Jessie Bates III to seal Atlanta’s win and set off a wild celebration on the sideline.
The Eagles (1-1) went ahead on Hurts’ 1-yard tush push score with 6:47 left. Barkley finished with 95 yards on 22 carries in his home debut for Philadelphia, but his drop provided the Falcons with some hope.
And then Cousins started playing like the QB Atlanta thought it was getting when it signed him to a four-year, $180 million contract.
Cousins finished 20 of 29 for 241 yards and two touchdowns. Atlanta’s first TD was a 41-yarder from Cousins to Mooney, who finished with three catches for 88 yards.
Hurts was 23 of 30 for 183 yards, including a touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith. With No. 1 receiver A.J. Brown out with a hamstring injury, Smith led the Eagles with seven catches for 76 yards and a score.
Jake Elliott kicked two field goals for the Eagles. His 28-yarder with 1:39 left made it 21-15.
Atlanta kept stalling in the red zone, getting three field goals from Koo, before Cousins fired over the middle to Mooney, who shook loose from C.J. Gardner-Johnson and left him on the turf before he somersaulted into the end zone with 1:21 left in the third quarter for a 15-10 lead. Cousins failed on the 2-point conversion pass.
Hurts had some juice in his step during a second-quarter TD drive, running with abandon for big plays much like he did in the 2022 season. He spiked the ball in a rare, raw show of emotion on a 23-yard run, earning a delay-of-game penalty. He shrugged off the 5-yard setback and scrambled for 9 yards and 15 yards to move the Eagles to Atlanta’s 19.
With comedian Shane Gillis and actor Bradley Cooper among the fans cheering on the Eagles, Hurts connected with Smith in the back of the end zone for a 7-yard TD that made it 7-3.
Under new defensive coordinator Vince Fangio, the Eagles have established an early knack for allowing long drives that end with three points instead of seven. Koo kicked field goals of 39, 22 and 34 yards, the last one enough for a 9-7 lead in the third quarter. In their opener, the Eagles held the Packers to just three field goals when they drove inside the 20.
Questionable call
Rather than take a chip-shot field goal from Elliott, the Eagles’ fourth-and-4 gamble at Atlanta’s 9-yard line in the first quarter failed when Hurts threw an incomplete pass.
Elliott kicked a 29-yarder with 4:31 left in the third quarter for a 10-9 lead.
Running wild
Bijan Robinson ran for 97 yards for the Falcons. The Eagles stuffed him late on fourth-and-1 at the Atlanta 39.
Barkley was quiet until the go-ahead drive, a week after he rushed for 109 yards and scored three touchdowns against Green Bay. Eagles fans booed when the opening drive of the game ended without Barkley touching the ball. They went wild when he had consecutive 9-yard runs to open the second drive. Barkley had 40 yards rushing in the first half.
Foles honored
Former Eagles QB Nick Foles, who led the franchise to its only Super Bowl title, served as an honorary captain and led the crowd in a rendition of “Fly, Eagles, Fly.”
Injuries
The Falcons played without LB Nate Landman (calf, quad).
Up next
Atlanta hosts Super Bowl champion Kansas City on Sunday.
TORONTO – Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada’s five-player lineup when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title in mid-November.
The 26th-ranked Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour’s singles rankings.
Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list. The 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champion won mixed doubles bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recent Paris Olympics.
Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., returns after a breakout performance last year, capped by her singles win in Canada’s 2-0 victory over Italy in the final. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is also back and Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., returns to the squad for the first time since 2022.
“Winning the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and not only that, but I feel like we made a statement to the world about the strength of this nation when it comes to tennis,” Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh said Monday in a release. “Once again, we have a very strong team this year with Bianca joining Leylah, Gaby, Rebecca and Marina, making it an extremely powerful team that is more than capable of going all the way.
“At the end of the day, our goal is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our best to bring the same level of effort and excitement that we had in last year’s finals.”
Fernandez, who beat Jasmine Paolini to clinch Canada’s first-ever title at the competition, is ranked No. 42 in doubles.
Canada, which received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play the winner of the first-round tie between Great Britain and Germany on Nov. 17 at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Arena.
Australia, Italy and wild-card entry Czechia also received first-round byes. The tournament, which continues through Nov. 20, also includes host Spain, Slovakia, the United States, Poland, Japan and Romania.
Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.
Canada will look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.
Malaga will also host the Nov. 19-24 Davis Cup Final 8. The Canadian men qualified over the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in Manchester.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
