2018-19 National Women's Team

EARLY GOALS HELP CANADA BLANK FINNS, EARN SPOT IN FINAL

ALI WILSON

SASKATOON, Sask. – Mélodie Daoust (Valleyfield, Que./Montreal, CWHL) and Rebecca Johnston (Sudbury, Ont./Calgary, CWHL) scored in the first five minutes, helping Canada shut out Finland 3-0 on Friday night and earn a spot in the gold medal game at the 2018 4 Nations Cup.

Canada will renew its rivalry with the United States in the final on Saturday (8 p.m. CT, TSN).

Emerance Maschmeyer (Bruderheim, Alta./Montreal, CWHL) celebrated her first start of the tournament in the Canadian goal with a 14-save shutout.

The Canadians got the home crowd at SaskTel Place into the game early; Daoust rocketed a pass from Marie-Philip Poulin (Beauceville, Que./Montreal, CWHL) past Finnish goaltender Noora Räty just 25 seconds after the puck dropped, and Johnston finished a two-on-one with Kristin O’Neill (Oakville, Ont./Cornell University, ECAC) for the 2-0 goal at 4:55.

Despite chances at both ends, Maschmeyer and Räty held down the fort for most of the final 55 minutes. Räty was by far the busier of the two – the Canadians finished with a one-sided 48-14 advantage in shots on goal.

With Räty on the bench, Laura Stacey (Kleinburg, Ont./Markham, CWHL) hit the empty net with 35 seconds left to seal the deal for Canada.

The Finns will play for bronze on Saturday afternoon, facing off against Sweden (3 p.m. CT).