Jennifer Wakefield and Haley Irwin scored as Canada defeated Finland 3-1 on Friday at the Four Nations Cup women's hockey tournament.
Emerance Maschmeyer added 11 saves as the Canadians ensured a rematch with the United States in Saturday's final.
Canada had all but mathematically clinched a spot in the championship game after beating the Americans in round-robin play on Thursday. Finland needed an unlikely blowout victory over Canada to advance after the U.S. guaranteed its own spot in the showcase game earlier Friday with a 3-0 win over Sweden.
In truth, anything other than a showdown between Canada (3-0) and the U.S. (2-1) at the tournament was never really in doubt.
Focus now quickly shifts to Saturday, as the two powerhouses of women's hockey meet in yet another international final.
The event at the Interior Savings Centre is the first tournament since Canada defeated the U.S. 3-2 in a dramatic overtime game at the Sochi Olympics in February.
Rivalry will continue
But the rosters for the North American teams in Kamloops are missing a lot of the big names from that memorable game nine months ago as the U.S. and Canada continue to evaluate younger talent with an eye towards next year's world championship and the 2018 Olympics. Hayley Wickenheiser and Jayna Hefford are among the 10 veterans not taking part for Canada, while the Americans left 11 of their Olympians off the roster.
In Friday's late game that wrapped up round-robin play, Wakefield opened the scoring with 5:14 left in the first period, capping off a nice passing play with Tara Watchorn and Brianne Jenner.
Finnish goalie Meeri Raisanen, who finished with 46 saves, held her team in during a first period that saw Canada record the first 11 shots before Finland directed one at Maschmeyer.
The Canadian goalie did have to be sharp on one Finnish effort midway through the period with the game still scoreless, turning aside a Mira Jalosuo point shot before corralling the rebound.
Laura Fortino hit the post on a 3-on-1 short-handed break for Canada early in the second period before Jillian Saulnier had another good chance off the rush with nine minutes gone.
Jenner and Irwin then had back-to-back shots from in close, and Natalie Spooner tried her luck on a breakaway, but Raisanen was equal to the task on all three occasions.
Maschmeyer didn't even face a shot in the period until there were under three minutes to go, but she had to be careful on a scramble in front as Canada held a 34-9 shot advantage though two periods.
Irwn, Canada's captain, finally doubled her team's lead at 3:53 of the third on a nice deflection off a Fortino shot past a helpless Raisanen.
Riika Valilila then scored Finland's second goal of the tournament, swatting a puck home from the slot on a power play at 10:36, but Rebecca Johnston scored into an empty net to seal it with under a minute to go.
USA defeated Sweden
In Friday's other game, Hilary Knight, Emily Pflazer and Brianna Decker scored in the American victory over the Swedes.
Brianne McLaughlin-Bittle stopped all 11 shots she faced for the Americans, while Shiann Darkangelo picked up two assists. Sara Grahn made 47 saves for Sweden (0-3), which has yet to score a goal in Kamloops and will play in the third-place game against Finland (1-2).
"Their goalie played a really great game," said Knight. "She made a lot of really great saves, but it wasn't frustrating for us at all. We're a relentless team."
Knight opened the scoring at 5:12 of the first for the Americans, who had just one goal to show for their 22-2 edge in shots after 20 minutes.
"We just had to continue our energy and keep our momentum," said Knight. "There's unfortunate bounces that can happen here and there throughout a game. Luckily we just stayed on our toes and kept at it."
Grahn held the fort for the Swedes as the game wore on until Pfalzer scored on a 5-on-3 power play at 14:25 of the second to make it 2-0. Decker then put things completely out of reach with a nice short-handed effort with 31.7 seconds remaining in the period.
"We had a lot of energy," said U.S. head coach Ken Klee. "Great chances, moving the puck, moving our feet — those are the things we have to pride ourselves in.
"It was a fun game."
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