Captain Clutch: Canada's Marie-Philip Poulin has three Olympic gold-deciding goals
When Canada needed an Olympic hero in the women’s hockey gold medal game, it turned to a familiar hero in Marie-Philip Poulin.
Up 1-0 against their arch-rival Americans, Canada’s captain netted a wrist shot to double the lead to two.
CAPTAIN CLUTCH 🚨
Marie-Philip Poulin with ANOTHER goal in a gold medal game to make it 2-0 Canada 🔥🔥🔥
Watch on the CBC Sports app or @cbcgem pic.twitter.com/jx5y3xgRJT
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) February 17, 2022
And then midway through the second period, she did it again.
CAPTAIN CLUTCH X2 🚨 🇨🇦
Marie-Philip Poulin with another one for Canada as they take a 3-0 lead over the U.S. in the GOLD medal game 🏒
Watch on the CBC Sports app or @cbcgem pic.twitter.com/OhrBOTKthU
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) February 17, 2022
Canada appeared in the driver’s seat after that, but the feisty Americans added a goal late in each of the second and third periods to make it a one-goal game.
When the final buzzer sounded, the scoreboard read Canada 3, USA 2, meaning Poulin’s second goal held up as the game-winner.
One gold medal-winning goal would be enough for most hockey players to cement their legacy, but it’s just a regular day at the office for the 30-year-old legend.
In 2010 at the Vancouver Olympics at just 18 years old, she scored both of Canada’s goals in a 2-0 gold medal win over USA. In 2014 in Sochi against the Americans, Poulin tied the game up 2-2 with under a minute remaining in the third period, before scoring the winner in overtime.
And though Canada fell in an epic shootout to the Americans four years ago in Pyeonchang, Poulin scored in that game as well. Four gold medal games, seven goals, three game-winners.
Marie-Philip Poulin is the only hockey player – female or male – to score in four Olympic gold medal games 🐐
— Team Canada (@TeamCanada) February 17, 2022
For comparison, the USA has scored just six goals over those four games.
But it isn’t just the Olympics where Poulin’s come clutch, as she also scored the game-winner in overtime over the Americans at the 2021 world championship.
LAST NAME EVER, FIRST NAME GREATEST #TeamCanada | @pou29 pic.twitter.com/jcH53BGHJE
— Team Canada (@TeamCanada) February 17, 2022
When asked about her reaction to the goal, the Beauceville, Quebec, native kept it simple.
“We did it,” Poulin told CBC after the game, directing praise to her teammates. “We celebrate each other’s success. We want each other to succeed. And to me honestly, it just shows from line after line. People were dialed in.”
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