The two favorites for a gold medal in women's hockey at the Winter Olympics had easy shutout wins Saturday. For Canada, make that very easy.
Several hours after the US, which is expected to meet Canada in the Feb. 20 final, beat Switzerland 6-0, the Canadians overwhelmed Italy 16-0. The Italians are not strong in hockey and only got a berth in the competition because they are hosting the games.
Caroline Ouellette and Hayley Wickenheiser each scored three goals to lead the Canadians to victory, the largest rout in women's Olympic hockey history. The previous record was set by the US in a 13-0 victory over host country Japan eight years ago at the Nagano Games.
PHOTO: AFP
The defending champion Canadians were expected to dominate the preliminary round matchup over Italy, whose team has been together for about two weeks.
"We expected Italy to be weak but we're not going to apologize for winning," Wickenheiser said.
Italian goaltender Debora Montanari said her teammates may have been in awe of their opponents before they stepped on the ice.
"Yesterday, we were getting autographs from them," said Montanari, who made 38 saves on 47 shots through two periods before being replaced. "Today, we were on the ice together. It's like a dream."
The US took a while to overcome a hot goaltender before dominating the last two periods, leading only 2-0 after two periods despite outplaying the Swiss and eventually outshooting them 56-9.
Patricia Elsmore-Sautter made 50 saves for Switzerland, including 33 over the first two periods.
In other games Saturday, Heidi Pelttari had a goal and an assist, Maija Hassinen stopped 24 shots and Finland opened the preliminary round with a 3-0 victory over Germany, while Maria Rooth had a goal and an assist as Sweden beat Russia 3-1.
Tricia Dunn-Luoma scored a 5-on-3 shorthanded goal and captain Krissy Wendell added two third-period goals to lead the Americans. Rising 18-year-old star Sarah Parsons scored a goal and Chanda Gunn got the shutout in their Olympic debuts.
US coach Ben Smith repeatedly warned his team about Elsmore-Sautter, a former Minnesota-Duluth teammate of US veteran Jenny Potter, who also scored with 1:10 to play.
Switzerland had a two-skater advantage for more than two minutes midway through the second period when the Americans picked up three straight penalties.
But Dunn-Luoma pounced on a bad pass and improbably got three strides behind the defense for a breakaway, finally beating Elsmore-Sautter.
Mari Pehkonen and Marja Helena Palvila also scored goals for Finland, which won bronze medals in Nagano and finished fourth in Salt Lake City.
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