Jocelyne Larocque scored and had an assist to lead Canada to a 4-0 win over Czechia in a womenB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™s world hockey championship semifinal Saturday.
Canada will face defending champion United States B´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·” a 5-0 winner in a semifinal win over Finland B´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·” in SundayB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™s gold-medal game at the Adirondack Bank Center.
Canada and the U.S. will clash in a world championship final for the 22nd time in 23 played. The Americans doubled the hosts 6-3 for the gold medal last year in Brampton, Ont.
LarocqueB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™s goal was the 35-year-old defenderB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™s second in 10 world championship appearances.
Blayre Turnbull and Sarah Fillier also scored for Canada. Laura Stacey had two assists Saturday. Canadian goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens posted a nine-save shutout.
Her Czech counterpart Klara Peslarova stopped 43 off 47 shots in the loss.
Czechia, coached by Canadian Carla MacLeod, will try for a third straight bronze medal Sunday when it faces Finland.
Canada blanked the Czechs 5-0 in Group AB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™s preliminary round. On Saturday, the Canadians carried a 27-6 margin in shots and a 3-0 lead heading into the third period.
Fillier, the 2023 tournament MVP, scored her second of the tournament at 4:40 of the third period. She redirected a sharp-angled Renata Fast pass between PeslarovaB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™s pads.
The Czechs generated some sustained offensive pressure early in the second period, but didnB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™t produce a dangerous scoring chance from it.
Clark scored her first of the tournament at 1:39. From behind the goal line, Clark flicked the puck off a sprawling Peslarova and into the net.
Clark and Larocque became the 13th and 14th players on CanadaB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™s roster to score in the tournament.
Larocque driving the Czech net shovelled the puck past Peslarova on StaceyB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™s pass from the wing at 18:15 of the first period.
Larocque sent the puck up ice to Stacey, who dished to Turnbull scoring high stick side on Peslarova at 4:32.
Canada didnB´ÎÔª¹ÙÍøÍøÖ·™t score on two power-play chances and was 1-for-16 in the tournament.
Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press