SUMMERSIDE, PEI — Jennifer Gardiner broke a tie with 6:44 left and Canada beat the United States 3-1 on Saturday night to win the Rivalry Series women’s hockey showcase for the third straight time.
Gardiner took a pass between the faceoff circles and fired a wrist shot that got past Aerin Frankel through a crowd.
Canada won the five-game series 3-2, two nights after the United States tied it with a 2-1 shootout victory in Halifax.
“It is pretty incredible. Just to put the jersey on is a huge honor, but to get on the scoreboard just felt like one of the most incredible feelings,” Gardiner said. “I couldn’t even explain it really. It felt like I blacked out for a second.”
In Game 5 at Credit Union Place, Brianne Jenner opened the scoring for Canada at 6:48 of the second period. Kelly Pannek tied it at 3:03 of the third, and Laura Stacey iced it with empty-netter with 1:19 remaining.
Emerance Maschmeyer made 28 saves for Canada. Frankel stopped 40 shots.
“It’s never easy to lose a game like this. Our team played hard,” U.S. coach John Wroblewski said. “We’ll continue to evaluate and make sure we’re ready heading into women’s worlds in April.”
The Associated Press
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