Canada defeats the United States in Four Nations Cup final

Brianne Jenner scored the only goal of the shootout Saturday as Canada defeated the United States 3-2 in the final of the Four Nations Cup women's hockey tournament.

After an exciting 4-on-4 overtime that included power plays and plenty of chances for both teams, Jenner roofed a backhand in the second round, and Genevieve Lacasse made a glove save in the third on Hilary Knight of the U.S. to seal it.

Jennifer Wakefield scored twice in regulation for Canada, while Lacasse stopped 33 shots.

Knight and Brianna Decker replied for the U.S., which got 26 saves from Molly Schaus.

Canada has now won the Four Nations Cup a total of 14 times — including last year's event in Lake Placid, N.Y. — while the U.S. owns the other five titles.

Olympic rematch

The game marked the first final between the two teams since Canada's dramatic 3-2 come-from-behind overtime victory in the gold-medal game at the Sochi Olympics in February. Canada also beat the U.S. by the same 3-2 score in the round-robin portion of the Four Nations on Wednesday.

The two giants of the women's game brought vastly different rosters to Kamloops than the ones that took to the ice in Russia nine months ago as both programs look to develop younger players with an eye towards the 2015 women's world hockey championship and the 2018 Olympics. Hayley Wickenheiser, Jayna Hefford, Caroline Ouellette and Gillian Apps were among the veterans not taking part in the tournament for the Canadians, while 11 Olympians stayed home for the American team.

Tight game

Tied 2-2 after two periods, the U.S. came close to taking the lead three minutes into the third when captain Alex Carpenter fired a shot off the post behind Lacasse that stayed out.

Down 1-0 after the first, the Americans tied the game just 50 seconds into the second when Decker moved down the right side and fired a shot that snuck inside Lacasse's post for her second goal of the tournament.

Knight then gave the U.S. its first lead at 9:48 on a breakaway with her third goal at the Four Nations tournament after jumping on a bad turnover from Canada's Jocelyne Larocque.

Canada was awarded a penalty shot with just over four minutes left in the second when Jillian Saulnier was brought down on a short-handed breakaway, but she lost control of the puck at the critical moment of her showdown with Schaus and didn't even get an effort on target.

Wakefield finally got the goal Canada desperately craved when she snapped home her second of the night and third overall after taking a pass from Spooner from the corner with 2:10 left in the period to send the teams to the locker-rooms tied 2-2 after 40 minutes.

Canada opened the scoring in the gold-medal game at 15:46 of a physical and fast-paced first period on the power play when Tara Watchorn blasted a high one-timer from the point that Wakefield tipped past Schaus.

The U.S. players and head coach Ken Klee protested that the goal should have been disallowed because Wakefield's stick was above the crossbar — even pointing at the big screen above the ice surface — but the call on the ice stood. There is no video review at the tournament.

Canada looked nervous early and had a shaky first minute as the Americans jumped on a turnover and nearly scored inside 30 seconds.

After Canada took the lead, Lacasse had to be sharp in the final minute of the period, shooting out her pad to make a good save on Decker.

Sweden takes third

In the third-place game earlier Saturday, Sweden scored with less than four minutes to go in regulation against Finland before winning 2-1 in overtime.

Jenni Asserholt scored exactly nine minutes into overtime for Sweden after Emma Nordin tied the game with 3:33 left in the third period. The goals were the first two of the tournament for the Swedes, who got 27 saves from Kim Martin Hasson.

Michelle Karvinen scored in the second and Eveliina Suonpaa made 14 stops for Finland, which didn't allow a shot against in the first period.