Canada's Meghan Agosta-Marciano celebrates her goal against Finland during third period action at the Sochi Winter Olympics Monday February 10, 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Canada defeated Finland 3-0.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
SOCHI, Russia - The story of Canada's first win in the Olympic women's hockey tournament was the shot-out-of-a-cannon enthusiasm of its rookies. The patience and perseverance of the veterans was the tale of the second.
They'd seen Noora Raty's act before. Finland's goaltender mows down a ton of rubber and can single-handedly keep her country in games against Canada and the United States.
Monday's game was scoreless deep into the third period and there was the whiff of an upset in the air.
But three-time Olympian Megan Agosta-Marciano broke the tension with a power-play goal at 9:27. Jayna Hefford, playing in her fifth Winter Games, quickly added another and Rebecca Johnston sealed the 3-0 win within a seven-minute span.
"I don't think anyone was nervous," Agosta-Marciano said. "We knew what we were doing
"As the periods go on, she gets more confidence. We knew we needed to be patient and we needed to keep coming. One we got that one, we got three."
Shannon Szabados earned a 14-save shutout, while Raty stopped 39 of 42 shots in front of an announced 4,837 at Shayba Arena.
Canada and the United States, both 2-0, secured berths to the semifinals Monday. Under a new tournament format, the countries ranked in the top four in the world are in one pool and fifth through eight in the other.
Switzerland fell 9-0 to the U.S. and along with Finland will play in the quarter-finals against the top two teams from the other pool that includes host Russia, Sweden, Germany and Japan.
Canada and the U.S. finish the round-robin against each other Wednesday in what could be a preview of the gold medal game, although Finland's early performance in Sochi indicates a closing of the gap on the North Americans.
Raty made 40 saves in a 3-1 loss to the Americans to open the tournament, but the team in front of her is the fastest and fittest Finland has ever been.
The Finns have been working with strength trainer Tommi Parmakoski, whose previous client was Formula 1 driver Sebastian Vettel. They had the muscle to battle Canada for the puck and they didn't get worn down by the third period as they have previously.
"It's definitely true we're more physically fit," Raty said. "Our speed is much better. We can use a more aggressive forecheck and I would say Canada's weakness is our defence, so we can really give them some pressure and hopefully get some turnovers."
Instead of hanging back on defence, they forechecked, counterattacked and "fought like lions," coach Mika Pieniniemi said at the post-game news conference.
"That was one hard-fought hockey game," agreed Canadian head coach Kevin Dineen. "Certainly the outcome was in doubt for the majority of the game. It was a good thing we have a solid veteran presence. We talked about a lot of patience.
"I told Mika on the way in here I would be very pleased if I don't have to run into that squad again."
Canada's goal production could use a boost. They scored more than two goals in just three of their final 13 games before arriving in Sochi. Canada did score five goals on the Swiss to open the tournament, but took 69 shots to do it.
The Canadians didn't capitalize on an odd-man rush in the first and second periods against Finland.
One of Canada's fastest skaters with gifted hands, Agosta-Marciano of Ruthven, Ont., is relied upon to produce. She was a non-factor against Finland until she rifled her own rebound past Raty for her first goal of the tournament.
"Tonight was a very average game for her, scores the big goal and then follows it up with some really solid shifts," Dineen said. "Not a great first couple of periods for her.
"She's a big moment player. We had a little chat after the last game and I know her heart is in the right place."
Canadian captain Caroline Ouellette hopes the game-breaking goal inspires Agosta-Marciano heading into the game Wednesday, which happens to be Agosta-Marciano's 27th birthday
"She's one of the greatest goalscorers in our game," Ouellette said. "Sometimes if it's not going well, it affects her confidence. We stay positive with her, we encourage her to use her speed.
"We need her to be one of our best players if we want to have a chance to win definitely."
Canadian forward Jennifer Wakefield's head bounced off the glass and she went down hard in the first period when Finland's Susanna Tapani shoved her into the boards. Wakefield remained in the game, however.
Forward Haley Irwin was scratched from Canada's lineup for a second game in a row. Before the tournament, Dineen called it an "upper body" injury before the tournament began and said her status was day-to-day.
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