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BEIJING — Led by their clutch captain, Canada brought back that golden feeling in Olympic women's hockey.

Marie-Philip Poulin's two goals spurred Canada to a 3-2 win over archrival United States in Thursday's final in Beijing. 

The 30-year-old from Beauceville, Que., has scored in four consecutive Olympic finals for Canada with a total of seven goals in those games.

Poulin also scored the game-winner in Canada's last three wins in Olympic finals.

"She's not just a superstar with the puck, she's a superstar without the puck, and just a great leader for us," said her Canadian linemate Brianne Jenner. 

"We're happy to follow Pou wherever she's going to take us.

“Canada is a hockey nation and hopefully we’ve given everyone a reason to celebrate back home."

The Canadians reclaimed gold after losing 3-2 in a shootout to the Americans four years ago in Pyeongchang, South Korea. 

For the 13 returning veterans who felt that hockey heartbreak, the buzzer sounding at Wukesong Sports Centre after a furious final two minutes of hockey was redemptive.

"Losing in 2018 was an awful feeling and we wanted to regain that podium and win that gold medal," forward Rebecca Johnston said. "Just a lot of emotions."

The gold was Canada's fifth after a run of four straight from 2002 to 2014. 

The U.S. took the inaugural gold in 1998 when women's hockey made its Olympic debut.

Canadian starter Ann-Renée Desbiens made 38 saves for the win Thursday.

She withstood a flurry of activity around her crease in the final minutes when Poulin served a hooking penalty and American goalie Alex Cavallini was pulled for an extra attacker.

Amanda Kessel scored a power-play goal with 12 seconds remaining in regulation, which freed Poulin from the penalty box to win the ensuing faceoff. 

The Canadians were soon celebrating.

The highest-scoring women's Olympic team of all Canadian editions outgunned the opposition 57-10 in Beijing for a tournament record. 

Head coach Troy Ryan gave his players the freedom to create without fear of making mistakes. 

The Canadians skated, passed the puck and shot it in high gear from opening puck drop to O Canada in Beijing. 

Their quick transitions from defence to offence had the opposition chasing them.

"I think that we've completely changed women's hockey from an offensive standpoint," forward Sara Nurse said.

The Americans outshot Canada 40-21 on Thursday, but the latter generated more sustained pressure in the offensive zone over the first two periods.

After three unanswered Canadian goals, Hilary Knight cut the deficit to two late in the second period with a short-handed goal. 

Alex Carpenter hit the crossbar in the third and Cayla Barnes put a puck off the post in the first. Cavallini made 18 saves in the U.S. net.

"It stings for a while," Kessel said. "I won't forget this, probably forever. I am really proud of our team to keep fighting all game long."

The U.S. was also without star forward Brianna Decker who suffered a tournament-ending knee injury their first game.

But Canada rewrote the women's Olympic hockey record book in several categories in Beijing, starting with 57 tournament goals surpassing the 44 of their 2010 predecessors.

Shifted onto a line with Poulin and Jenner early in Beijing when Melodie Daoust was out with injury, Nurse was a playmaking foil for her linemates.

With a goal and an assist Thursday, the Hamilton forward tallied 18 points to break the tournament record previously held by Hayley Wickenheiser (2010).

Jenner, named most valuable player of the tournament, scored a team-leading nine goals for a tournament-high. 

Claire Thompson's three goals and 10 assists in her Olympic debut was a tournament-high in points by a defender.

Poulin and Johnston became three-time gold medallists after wins in 2010 and 2014.

"Every medal is a different story. They're unique. This is a special one," Poulin said. "The veterans who have been here since 2018, they felt that loss in the shootout. It was a hard one for all of us.

"We came back together. We were ready to go."

The COVID-19 pandemic was a double-edged sword for the Canadian women.

They used the time spent on Zoom, or isolating together in hotel rooms, to get to know each other in a way that went beyond standard camps and tournaments. 

Team line dancing to Missy Elliott was a product of their Zoom sessions.

Constant cancellation and postponements of tournaments and games made the women hungry and resilient, said Poulin.

"We put the hard work in from a lot of Zoom calls, to having camps cancelled, having world championships being cancelled, but still being able to go to work in our basement gym, or at our computers at home, putting families aside, friends aside to really put the work in," the captain said.

"We've had many video sessions to create more offence and it showed in this tournament all around."

The women arrived in Calgary in July to start Beijing preparation posting their highest scores in fitness testing.

They beat the U.S. 3-2 in the final of a postponed world championship there in August.

Olympic gold medals in a team sport feel weighty because of the emotion shared by teammates who hail from all parts of a country. 

Canada's gold medal in women's soccer just six months ago inspired their hockey counterparts.

The hockey players watched the soccer final in their hotel's meal room. 

They've often talked of how much the soccer victory inspired them to win a world title less than a month later.

"It's a pretty great time to be a woman in Canada," Desbiens said.

Bev Priestman, who coached Canada to soccer gold in Tokyo, spoke with the hockey players before the final in Beijing.

"It was really close to my heart because I've seen how our group inspired them to go and beat the U.S.," Priestman said. 

"There's a real special connection there."

— With files from Neil Davidson

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2022.

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press

Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version incorrectly credited the Americans' second goal to Kendall Coyne Schofield