Canada's kids end the U.S. streak a game early

I called this one wrong in the right direction. I wrote yesterday that Canada would win one of the two games this week, probably Friday, once Kori Cheverie had a look at the kids. Cheverie didn't wait. Her kids won it on Wednesday.

Canada beat the United States 5-3 in Windsor, its first win over the Americans since February 2025. The eight-game streak is over, and the two youngest scorers of the night were Canadian.

The kids did the damage

Rosalie Tremblay is 18 and the youngest player on the roster. She buried a rebound off a Jessie Eldridge shot midway through the second period for her first senior goal, and it put Canada back up two after Hilary Knight had cut it to 2-1.

Caitlin Kraemer, 20, made her senior debut and scored late in the first, off a feed from Nicole Gosling. "I'm just so grateful to have the opportunity to wear the leaf," Kraemer said.

By our count, two of Canada's five goals came from players 20 or younger, on a night the Americans dressed most of their Milan core.

And the first goal came from the player I said to watch. Chloe Primerano's point shot on an early power play left the rebound Daryl Watts put in. That's a 19-year-old on the first power play against the Olympic champions. Cheverie is not sheltering her.

The Americans still pushed back

This wasn't a rout, and the U.S. didn't play like a team on vacation. Abbey Murphy scored 3:48 into the third, and Caroline Harvey tied it at 3-3 at 7:53 on a shot that went in off Danielle Serdachny's skate.

Canada needed a coach's challenge to get there. Joy Dunne thought she'd tied it first, and the goal came off for offside.

Then Sarah Fillier won it with 8:15 left, again off an Eldridge feed, and Laura Stacey hit the empty net with six seconds to go.

Ann-Renee Desbiens shut the Americans out through the first period, which bought the kids their lead. Aerin Frankel stopped a Serdachny penalty shot in the first, so the scoreline could have been worse for the Americans.

What it does and doesn't change

By our count, five goals is more than Canada scored in any of the four Rivalry Series games last season, when the Americans won them by a combined 24-7. That's the real news, because the depth gap I wrote about showed up on Canada's side of the sheet for one night.

What it doesn't change is the Denmark math. The Americans still have the deeper forward group, the same coach and the same crease. One exhibition win in Windsor is a mood, not a trend, especially with a second meeting two days later in Michigan.

But a young team needed proof it could beat this opponent before Nov. 6, and now it has it. That matters for a roster with seven Worlds debutants and no Marie-Philip Poulin.

The W read

The W read: I'm half right and I'll take the half. The Americans win Friday in Plymouth, because they'll be angry and at home. I'm keeping my Denmark call too: U.S. by two in the Nov. 16 final.

The difference now is that I'd bet a lot less on it. Primerano played like a top-pair defender on Wednesday, and if she keeps doing that in Herning, this streak isn't coming back.