The record Olympic champions from Canada reached the semi-finals of the ice hockey tournament at the Winter Games in Beijing with a big exclamation mark and are firmly aiming for their fifth gold medal. The world champions showed another impressive performance in the quarter-finals against Sweden and won 11-0 (4-0, 5-0, 2-0).
Brianne Jenner (4th/29th/51st) and Sarah Fillier (twice 18th/53rd) each scored three times for the Canadians, who had already rushed through the group stage unbeaten. Defending champions USA, on the other hand, had more trouble than expected in reaching the semi-finals. The two-time Olympic champion defeated outsiders the Czech Republic 4-1 (0-0, 1-1, 3-0), but only pulled away decisively in the final third.
The nine-time world champion surprisingly fell behind through Michaela Pejzlova (25th). Hilary Knight equalized just 48 seconds later (26′). Lee Stecklein (47th), Savannah Harmon (57th) and Kendall Coyne Schofield (60th) only made the decision in the last round.