The American and Canadian women’s hockey teams are spending Thursday in Beijing exactly where they expected to be from the start of these Olympics: playing in the gold medal game.
The suspense was almost never going to be in the matchup. The two countries have fought over the gold medal in every Games but one since women’s hockey became an Olympic sport in 1998. The only thing left to be settled is the score after 60 minutes (or overtime, as in 2014, or, as in 2018, a shootout).
Canada appeared to strike first about seven minutes into the game, when the American goaltender Alex Cavallini deflected a puck and saw Natalie Spooner sweep in with a powerful shot that crossed the goal line.