Canada's puck dominance on display in win over Japan at women's hockey worlds

Japanese forward Akane Shiga drove down the left wing, fending off a Canadian defender before shoving the puck at Canadian goalie Emerance Maschmeyer, who easily made the save.

In response, the crowd at the CAA Centre in Brampton, Ont., politely applauded.

Canada had outshot Japan 23-0 to that point, with play almost entirely in the Japanese zone. The fans seemed legitimately happy that Japan was able to produce some sort of chance.

The Canadians wound up firing 37 more shots to Japan's 11 total en route to a 5-0 win, moving them to 3-0 at the women's hockey world championship.

WATCH | Sarah Fillier scores twice in win over Japan:

Fillier pots a pair as Canada shuts down Japan at world championship

2 years ago

Duration 1:43

Sarah Fillier scored twice and added a helper as Canada dominated Japan 5-0 Saturday night at the women's world championship.

The enormous quantity of 60 shots is first and foremost a symptom of the wide talent gap between the teams. But it's also a credit to Canada's system — a style of play valuing puck possession that has seeped into the NHL in recent years.

Canadian head coach Troy Ryan said the top coaches steal from all levels of the sport.

"It's just a merging of all the best things that are going on and then what necessarily fits you. I'd like to think that the men's side takes something from our game, but we take from their game as well."

Canada's goals came from Sarah Fillier twice, as well as Brianne Jenner, Sarah Nurse and Natalie Spooner — all on rebounds or deflections.

Japanese coach Yuji Iizuka pulled goalie Miyuu Masuhara midway through the second period after she allowed three goals on 34 shots. In relief, Riko Kawaguchi stopped 24 of 26 shots.

Maschmeyer was making her first start for Canada in the tournament. She stopped all 11 shots she faced, even while adding that playing goalie when her teammates are sound in their structure can be difficult.

"It's definitely a different mindset. Japan's an opportunistic team so I have to be ready at any point that they can get those chances, so whether it's in the start of the game, the last minute of the game, I mentally stayed alert the whole time."

Canada controlled play from start to finish — even if that meant the puck wasn't necessarily always on their sticks.

Jessica Campbell, who won silver at the 2015 world championship with Canada, told CBC Sports that she brings elements of the women's game into her teachings as an assistant coach with the Seattle Kraken's triple-A affiliate Coachella Valley Firebirds.

"You look at the makeup of the NHL and the players that are playing in the league, it's kind of anyone's game now, and that's an awesome testament to the speed and the intensity, but also the skill as well," she said.

A major part of keeping the puck is skating, stickhandling and a variety of offensive skills. When the sports world shut down during the pandemic, Campbell held private workout for NHLers like Mat Barzal, Luke Schenn and Brent Seabrook that focused on exactly that.

"At the end of the day every player just wants to get better and they want to know how they can get better and so I'm a big believer in just empowering the athlete first," she said.

Team Canada is overflowing with that kind of talent, including captain Marie-Philip Poulin, who earned two assists in the win.

"It would've been easy to get away from our game plan and details and that's something we stick to and I think we did that as a group," Poulin said. "Four lines, all the [defenders], stayed together, playing in the [offensive] zone, keeping our structure."

Canadian assistant coach Kori Cheverie described Canada's style of play before the tournament as "offensive and physical and gritty."

"We try to continue to add pieces to our game that make us really hard to play against. And so that's something that we take pride in. So we have a lot of different ways that we can play and it's just a matter of how it looks on a certain given day," Cheverie said.

She was more dubious than Campbell about the women's influence on the men's game.

"I think that there are skilled players on both the men's and the women's side, and I think that you want the puck on your stick more than you don't," she told CBC Sports ahead of the tournament. "So I don't know. I don't know if I agree with it or disagree with it. I just think you want the puck."

In the only other game of the day, Sweden collected its first win of the tournament, beating Hungary 6-2. Both Group B teams now sit at 1-1. The top three teams from the group, which also includes 2-0 Finland, 1-1 Germany and 0-2 France, advance to the quarterfinals.

WATCH | Canada vs. USA: A Hockey rivalry like none other:

Canada vs. USA: A Hockey rivalry like none other

2 years ago

Duration 1:32

Canada has had the USA's number lately in women's hockey, and the two countries are gearing up for another showdown at the women's hockey world championships.