Danielle Serdachny scored the golden goal on an overtime power play as Canada defeated the U.S. 6-5 in the women’s hockey world championship final in Utica, New York on Sunday. Serdachny’s goal came 5 minutes and 16 seconds into the extra period, helping Canada reclaim the world title after the U.S. had won in 2023. The goal was scored with one second left on a power play after the U.S. was penalized for having too many skaters on the ice.
Throughout regulation, the teams exchanged goals within three minutes of each other in every period, resulting in a total of four occasions. This was the highest-scoring game between the rivals since the U.S. beat Canada 7-5 in the 2015 World Championship final. Between the Olympics and world championships, 11 of the last 13 finals between the U.S. and Canada have been decided by one goal, with eight of those 13 games going to overtime.
Canada and the U.S. have combined to win every world title since the tournament’s inception in 1990, with Canada winning 13 titles and the U.S. winning 10. American player Laila Edwards, 20, became the youngest non-goalie to ever be named world championship MVP. In November, Edwards became the first Black woman to play for the senior national team. Edwards and teammate Alex Carpenter both scored six goals each, sharing the tournament lead. Both players also scored once in the final.
In addition to Serdachny’s golden goal, Canadian legend Marie-Philip Poulin scored her first two goals of the tournament in the final game. American legend Hilary Knight scored her record-extending 65th career world championship goal.