Four Nations Cup: Hilary Knight, U.S. end Canada's 2-year title reign

Hilary Knight scored in overtime as the United States beat Canada 3-2 in the final of the Four Nations Cup women's hockey tournament in Sundsvall, Sweden, on Sunday.

The native of Sun Valley, Idaho received a pass from Kelli Stack, skated on a partial breakaway and beat Canadian goalie Emerance Maschmeyer with a shot over her glove hand 36 seconds into the extra period to give the U.S. its sixth title and first since 2012.

Canada led 2-1 after two periods, but American forward Brianna Decker tied it with her second goal of the game 1:46 into the third.

We brought a lot of young players to this tournament and we got a really good look at where they are at in their development. ... Most importantly, we really grew as a team.- Canada head coach Laura Schuler

"We came out and played a very complete game and did what we needed to do to win," U.S. head coach Ken Klee said in a statement released by USA Hockey. "I'm proud of the team and all the effort [the players] put in. We never gave up and it was a well-deserved victory."

Natalie Spooner and Meghan Agosta scored for Canada, which claimed its sixth silver medal.

"We brought a lot of young players to this tournament and we got a really good look at where they are at in their development and where we're at as a program," Canada's head coach Laura Schuler said in a statement released by Hockey Canada. "Most importantly, we really grew as a team.

"We challenged the team with a lot of different tasks and they really stepped up … and did what we were asking them to do. I was really happy with our play and I thought today that we created a lot of scoring chances and unfortunately we just couldn't capitalize enough."

Spooner, who scored the winning goal and added an assist in Saturday's 3-1 win over Sweden, opened the scoring 64 seconds into the second period on the power play.

Equalizer

Decker, who was named the U.S. player of the game, fired the equalizer at 6:36 with the man-advantage before Agosta responded for Canada.

Maschmeyer made 30 saves for Canada, while Jessie Vetter stopped 30 shots for the U.S.

The result was the reverse of last year's final, when Canada beat the U.S. 3-2 in overtime to win the 2014 Four Nations title.

Since the tournament debuted in 1996, Canada has won 14 times and earned  six silver medals.

The Canadian women's next international competition will be the world championship in Kamloops, B.C., starting March 28. 

Elsewhere Sunday, Finland edged Sweden 3-2 in the bronze-medal game.