'Pittsburgh showed up' for Canada-USA women's rivalry rematch

Team Canada's Blayre Turnbull said that Saturday's game made the women of the Professional Women's Hockey Players Association feel like they were "part of the NHL, part of a pro league."

The Penguins hosted the PWHPA's Canadian and U.S. teams for the game at PPG Paints Arena, dubbing the game the "Rivalry Rematch," a sequel to last month's gold-medal game in Beijing in which Canada came away with a 3-2 victory.

Canada repeated as winners in this matchup with a 4-3 overtime win, but the outcome of the game wasn't what was important here.

It was the support the women received for this game. It was the many groups of little girls, many of whom were wearing their own youth team jerseys, along the glass cheering for the women they idolize. Many of the young girls had signs.

"Kendall, thank you for breaking barriers and making dreams possible," read one young girl's sign for Kendall Coyne Schofield, who was the first woman to participate in an NHL skills competition when she did so for the fastest skater event in 2019.

A group of girls wearing their team's jerseys had a sign that read, "We play too! Someday we hope to be just like you."

One girl's sign along the glass just had two words: "Girls can."

"The first thing we all noticed as soon as we stepped on for warmups as the fans are starting to fill the seats were tons of kids on the glass with signs asking for sticks and pucks," Turnbull said. "It definitely gives you that sense that people are behind us and they want to support us. Especially after playing in an empty arena for so long (in Beijing) it was great to see fans in the seats, the crowd was super loud and it was awesome."

Nights like these are just a taste of the kind of support that the PWHPA is hoping to see longer-term.

The PWHPA was founded in May 2019, following the folding of the Canadian Women's Hockey League (CWHL). The goal of the PWHPA is to advocate for the advancement and promotion of women's hockey, with a goal of creating a more sustainable North American professional league in the future. A professional league does exist -- the Premier Hockey Federation (PHF), formerly named the NWHL -- but the women of the PWHPA are looking for better conditions than the PHF provides.

A game like this, with the support and marketing resources of an NHL team, playing in an NHL rink, is more of what the women are looking for.

The Penguins didn't announce the official attendance during the game, but the lower bowl seemed to be a little over halfway full. It was a decent turnout, given that this game was only even announced to the public 11 days ago.

"Today was pretty special," said Canadian captain Marie-Philip Poulin. "Walking in, treated like professionals, I think that's something that we've been wanting for years. After the momentum from the Olympics, having this game within two weeks of notice and having that many people in the stands, this is just the start of something great. We believe what we have."

Team USA forward Hilary Knight called the event "a wonderful glimpse into the near future."

"To have the Pittsburgh Penguins pull this off in two and a half -- less than that -- weeks and to have the crowd that we had tonight is incredible," Knight said. "You know, we've always had NHL club support. But it's extremely special to have the Rivalry Rematch and the fashion and the professionalism in which the Pittsburgh Penguins did it. Partnering with the PWHPA it's such a unique opportunity, that I hope this continues as its own asset moving forward."

The market for women's hockey is there when it gets even a fraction of the marketing and other resources that the men's game gets on a regular basis. We see it every four years. The 2018 gold-medal game drew 3.7 million viewers on NBCSN alone, making it the most watched late-night program in NBCSN history. The 2022 gold-medal game drew 3.54 million viewers on NBC, making it the second most-watched hockey game of any kind in the U.S. since 2019, behind only Game 5 of the 2021 Stanley Cup Final in which Tampa Bay beat Montreal to clinch the Stanley Cup.

"I think it would be a wonderful opportunity to cater to the the national women's hockey fans, and also build on all the momentum that we see once every four years and do it night in and night out," Knight said.

Pittsburgh seems to be a market where women's hockey can succeed. The NWHL previously held two regular-season games and an All-Star skills competition and game at the Lemieux Complex in Cranberry, with all four events being sellouts. The U.S. and Canadian women's national teams held a joint training camp in Cranberry in 2019, and the two scrimmages to conclude the camp were again both sellouts.

The women felt that same love from the fans in this game.

"What an incredible crowd," Knight said. "Pittsburgh showed up for us, and they're a great city. Hopefully we can continue this on and continue the momentum in women's hockey as well."

MORE FROM THE GAME

• The ending of this game could not have been more expected. Poulin, Captain Clutch, who has scored the gold medal-winning goals for Canada in three of the last four Olympics, had the over-time winning goal. She banked the shot in off of U.S. defender Megan Keller in overtime:

I asked Turnbull if it's even a surprise anymore when a game ends with Poulin getting the game-winner.

"Not at all, to be honest," Turnbull said. "I think for anyone that follows our team and our sport, for her to score an overtime goal, it's the new standard. So obviously our team gets pretty fired up about it at this point, I think she gets a little embarrassed about it. It's awesome. I think she's just happy that our team won."

Poulin, who is one of the most humble people you'll ever meet, just blushed and smiled throughout Turnbull's response.

• Canada opened the scoring at the 4:48 mark of the first period, when forward Turnbull buried a one-timer from the top of the left circle that beat Alex Cavallini:

• Hilary Knight scored the game's equalizer late in the first period, beating Ann-Renee Desbiens with a backhand shot on the breakaway:

"I just saw the puck coming up high, and Hannah (Brandt) chipping it," Knight said of her goal. "I was like, 'Okay, let's go, all gas.' I was fresh off a shift so that was nice, but it was a solid defensive play that led to a good bounce for us offensively."

• Teams switched goaltenders as planned at the first intermission, with Maddie Rooney replacing Cavallini for the Americans and Emerance Maschmeyer replacing Desbiens for Canada.

• Canada regained the lead midway through the middle frame. Jocelyne Larocque's shot from the top of the circle deflected off of Turnbull's knee and in. It sure looked like it should have been Turnbull's second of the game, but it was officially credited to Larocque:

• Brandt tied the game back up for the U.S. later in the second period with a shot that beat Maschmeyer five-hole: 

• Teams once again switched goaltenders for the third period. Kristen Campbell entered the game for Canada, and Nicole Hensley entered the game for the U.S.

• The Americans got their first lead of the game near the midway point of the third period, when a Hayley Scamurra shot beat Campbell glove-side:

• The lead was short-lived. Jamie Lee Rattray quickly answered for Canada off of a beautiful setup from Poulin, the goal that would eventually force overtime:

• The U.S. coaches included Cammi Granato and Emily Pfalzer Matheson, and the Canadian coaches included Cassie Campbell-Pascall and Jayna Hefford. Matheson, who is married to the Penguins' Mike Matheson, had their son Hudson on the bench during warmups. 

PENGUINS / TWITTER

Amanda Kessel with Emily and Hudson Matheson

• Amanda Kessel was asked if she's aware of the cult hero status her brother Phil still has in this city.

"Yeah, Pittsburgh really, really took to Phil," she said. "I know it's a really special place to him. I just got to experience that firsthand how passionate these fans are and how fun the games are. You don't get to come to many even NHL arenas and get that atmosphere, and for us to kind of feel that same atmosphere. This was my first game here and hopefully we'll be welcome back."

• Some of the women's players were here for Friday's Penguins game against Vegas, and a couple met with the Penguins players in the locker room afterward. It led to this great photo with the two Canadian superstar captains:

"(Sidney Crosby) and (Kris Letang) were the guys that kind of took us under their wings yesterday," Poulin said. "We were able to get in the dressing room. Just being able to chit chat about what we're trying to do, I think they're really interested. They believe in what we have."

• When Knight's flight landed in Pittsburgh on Friday afternoon, it didn't take her long to hit some of the important stops:

I asked Knight about Primanti's, and she broke into a smile and started talking about how great this whole city is.

"Oh man," she said. "I got picked up by an extremely welcoming gentleman in a car and he was like, 'Oh, you've got to order from here,' and I was like, 'Alright, I'm doing it'. I wanted the full Pittsburgh experience. You know, the city's so gracious with the hospitality from the organization, from the fans, also from the players who came and supported us. It's just a world-class organization. When you land in the city, you know what you're going to get and that was my first taste of it. It's just wonderful to be here and be a part of it all."

• Several Penguins were in attendance. Matheson, of course, was there in support of Emily, and I saw him proudly pushing Hudson around in the stroller outside the locker rooms after the game, showing him off. Crosby, Letang, Tristan Jarry and Teddy Blueger were all among those who attended as well.

THE THREE STARS

As selected at PPG Paints Arena:

1. Marie-Philip Poulin, Canada
2. Hannah Brandt, USA
3. Blayre Turnbull, Canada

THE LINEUPS

Cammi Granato' lines and pairings:

Kendall Coyne Schofield - Alex Carpenter - Amanda Kessel
Dani Cameranesi - Hannah Brandt - Hilary Knight
Hayley Scamurra - Kelly Pannek - Abby Roque

Savannah Harmon - Megan Keller
Lee Stecklein - Megan Bozek
Jincy Dunne

And for Cassie Campbell-Pascall's Canadians: 

Brianne Jenner - Marie-Philip Poulin - Jamie-Lee Rattray
Melodie Daoust - Sarah Nurse - Natalie Spooner
Emily Clark - Blayre Turnbull - Rebecca Johnston
Jill Saulnier - Laura Stacey

Jocelyne Larocque - Renata Fast
Erin Ambrose - Ella Shelton
Micah Zandee-Hart - Claire Thompson

THE SCHEDULE

The 2022 Women's World Championship will be held from Aug. 26 to Sept. 4 in Denmark.

THE CONTENT

Visit our team page for everything.