U.S. women’s hockey team beats Canada to sweep Rivalry Series

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Hilary Knight scored twice in the third period, and the U.S. women’s hockey team beat Canada 4-1 on Saturday night to sweep the four-game Rivalry Series.

The game was the last between the teams before they meet in a preliminary-round game in the Olympics on Feb. 10 in Milan, Italy.

Defenders Caroline Harvey and Laila Edwards also scored, and Taylor Heise had two assists for the Americans. Aerin Frankel made 23 saves.

The Americans outscored the Canadians 24-7 in the series, also winning 4-1 in Cleveland on Nov. 6, 6-1 in Buffalo, New York, on Nov. 8, and 10-4 in Edmonton on Wednesday night.

Brianne Jenner scored for Canada. Ann-Renee Desbiens stopped 28 shots.

Harvey opened the scoring at 5:13 of the second period. Jenner tied it a minute later, and Edwards put the Americans ahead to stay at 7:29 of the period.

In the third, Knight scored with 8:31 remaining and 1:37 left, the second into an empty net.

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AP women’s hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey