The Americans answer Windsor with a 4-0 shutout of Canada
Janecke, Dunne, Simms and Bilka scored, Philips stopped all 13 shots, and Canada's power play went 0-for-6 a week before Denmark.
Canada won Wednesday. The Americans won the argument Friday. A 4-0 shutout in Plymouth didn't settle anything for Denmark, but it told us which team found its legs first, and it wasn't the one that left Windsor happy.
The night. The U.S. scored three times in the second period and once more early in the third at USA Hockey Arena, in front of a sellout crowd of 3,525.
Tessa Janecke opened it 57 seconds into the second. Joy Dunne and Kirsten Simms followed, Simms on the power play, and Hannah Bilka finished it off early in the third. Gwyneth Philips stopped all 13 shots she saw. Ève Gascon made 28 saves at the other end and deserved a better night.
The number that matters. Canada went 0-for-6 on the power play and managed 13 shots total. The U.S. went 2-for-5 and outshot Canada 32-13. Add Wednesday's 5-3 Canadian win in Windsor and the two-game set finished 7-5 for the Americans, by our count. Call it a split with an asterisk.
What they said. "When two dueling nations of our stature get on the ice, it's a really prideful game," Hilary Knight said. Coach John Wroblewski talked about readiness instead of revenge: "There's a mental checklist, and we're becoming more and more aware of that as a group of what that looks like."
That's the right note. This was a tune-up with 31 invitees in camp and 25 spots on the world championship roster, so some of what we saw Friday was players auditioning. Janecke, Dunne and Simms didn't hurt their cases.
What I'd worry about if I were Canada. Six power plays without a goal is a pattern worth fixing before the first puck in Denmark, not a bad night. Wednesday's win came on Sarah Fillier's go-ahead goal in the third. Friday, Canada never had the puck long enough to manufacture a moment like that.
What's next. The world championship runs Nov. 6-16 in Herning and Esbjerg, Denmark. If you want the backstory, I covered Wednesday's win in Windsor and eight straight years of this rivalry earlier this week.
The W read: The Americans leave Michigan looking like the better five-on-five team. Canada leaves knowing exactly what to fix. Both of those are good news in October and worth nothing in Herning.
