Canada defeats USA in Rivalry Series to win third consecutive title

Team Canada won the 2024-25 Rivalry Series with a 3-1 win over Team USA on Saturday night.

For the third straight year, the winner was decided in the final game of the series, this time in Game 5 in Summerside, Prince Edward Island.

Montreal Victoire forward Jennifer Gardiner scored the game winner in the third period — her first national team goal.

Brianne Jenner opened the scoring for Canada, and Laura Stacey — in her 101st game for Team Canada — scored the empty net goal to seal the win. Stacey led all players in points (5) and tied for the lead in goals (3) in the five-game series. Danielle Serdachny led all players Saturday with two assists.

Kelly Pannek — who scored the shootout winner in Game 4 on Thursday to force Saturday’s deciding Game 5 — scored the lone goal for the Americans.

“It’s never easy to lose a game like this. Our team played hard,” said Team USA coach John Wroblewski. “We’ll continue to evaluate and make sure we’re ready heading into Women’s Worlds in April.”

Canada’s starter, Emerance Maschmeyer wasn’t tested heavily in the game, but stopped 28 of 29 shots she faced, including several key saves in the final few minutes, improving her Rivalry record to 2-0 in 2024-25. Aerin Frankel, who was Team USA’s player of the game, made 40 saves.

Canada has won the Rivalry Series three years in a row.

Star forward Sarah Nurse did not play for Canada in Game 5 after leaving Game 4 on Thursday with a lower-body injury.

Team USA played with several top college players — Caroline Harvey, Laila Edwards, Abbey Murphy, Kirsten Simms and Tessa Janecke — not available for the February slate of games. Forwards Alex Carpenter, Grace Zumwinkle, Hayley Scamurra and Gabby Rosenthal missed the February games due to injury after initially being named to the roster.

Players for both national teams will return to their PWHL clubs and games will begin again Tuesday night, starting with the Toronto Sceptres versus the Minnesota Frost.

Saturday’s game was the last between Canada and the U.S. until the two rivals face off at the 2025 women’s world championships, which will begin April 9 in Czechia.

What does this mean for world championships?

It’s tough to pull major takeaways from Rivalry Series when the games are spread out over several months and the rosters shake up so much. But, these are important games for player evaluation and there are a few big roster questions that come to mind.

Did Zumwinkle do enough in her two games to grab a roster spot? She had two goals and 3 points in those two appearances and is coming off a great rookie season in the PWHL, where she was named Rookie of the Year. She hasn’t played since Jan. 2, but when healthy, Zumwinkle is most definitely one of the top 14 forwards in the U.S.

Is Edwards’ future actually on defense? She’s one of the top forwards in the NCAA but has been on the blue line for Team USA at Rivalry Series and during the December Six Nations tournament. When injuries hit during Wisconsin’s 8-2 win over Minnesota on Saturday, she dropped back to the blue line.

Could Gwyneth Philips be Team USA’s backup? Nicole Hensley has been the No. 2 behind Frankel, but she had a tough start to the PWHL season. And after Philips’ 31-save win Thursday, maybe she can move up the depth chart.

Did Daryl Watts do enough to make Team Canada? She’s incredibly skilled and registered her first point in the series Saturday. Her chemistry with Jenner while on the Ottawa Charge last season could give Canada an intriguing middle-six scoring line, especially if Canada is going to continue experimenting with other right-wing options next to Marie-Philip Poulin on the top line.

I’m also curious about Julia Gosling versus Gardiner for a depth role at worlds. Gardiner has been the better pro player, but Gosling has had a fairly consistent fourth-line role on Team Canada since last year’s worlds.

I thought Gardiner played well on the third line with Emily Clark and Blayre Turnbull on Thursday but ended up as the 13th forward Saturday. Scoring the game winner while playing as the extra forward could help her chances.

The other big question for Canada is whether Chloe Primerano — who was not available to play in February like other college players, because of the proximity to playoffs in the college schedule — will be on the worlds roster after playing a few games on the third pair in November. Micah Zandee-Hart looked solid Saturday and will look to get back on the team in April. There’s also Nicole Gosling and Jaime Bourbonnais to consider for the team.

The IIHF’s decision to have 25-player rosters at women’s worlds likely helps Canada feel safe bringing an 18-year-old to worlds, given they’ll have seven other options if Primerano isn’t ready for the senior international level yet.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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