It was a big night for Madison and for America. Forward Madison Kaiser set the pace with a goal and two assists in Madison, Wisconsin as the defending champion U.S. stormed to a 7-0 win over archrival Canada at the 2022 U18 Women’s Worlds.

With a relentless, shark-like instinct around the net, the U.S. sewed up top spot in Group A and a quarter-final bye with its third straight win on Thursday. Heading into the medal round, the Americans have outscored their opponents 18-1. They put up three power play goals on Canada.

"It feels great, obviously just beating them in general, but by that big of a lead too," said U.S. captain Danielle Burgen. "It's great to shut them down and come off with a good win."

Canada, with two preliminary-round losses, will play in the quarter-finals for just the second time in tournament history. In the 2018 quarter-finals, Canada beat Czechia 3-1 in Dmitrov. This year, the Canadians will take on Slovakia, which surprised Germany 6-2 to advance.

You couldn't dub this "the Battle of North America." It was the most lopsided U.S. win over Canada ever at the U18 Women's Worlds. The previous biggest U.S. margin of victory was four goals (6-2 on 9 January, 2018). Seven goals is the most the U.S. has ever scored on Canada.

"It shows that we're relentless," said Burgen. "We don't give up even if we have a high lead, just always battling and just showing what we have for talent."

U.S. star Laila Edwards, who had a goal and an assist, took over the tournament scoring lead with seven points (4+3=7). Sydney Morrow, who set a Shattuck St-Mary’s team record for most points by a defender in 2020-21 (78 points in 41 games), got two assists and leads all tournament blueliners in assists and points (0+7=7).

Molly Jordan, Ava Lindsay, Maggie Scannell, Kelly Gorbatenko, and Josie St. Martin also scored for coach Katie Lachapelle's team. Finley McCarthy added two assists.

The U.S. outshot Canada 34-25 and goalie Annalies Bergmann shone with her first shutout. This was also the first time the Americans have shut out Canada.

Bergmann credited her teammates: "It was just crazy, all the blocked shots. You know, I really felt I had all the support back there that I needed. And they really fought through to the end."

After Finland scored an historic 2-0 win over Canada on Day One, the Canadians rebounded with a 3-1 win over Sweden. But the speed and skill of the Americans, who also beat Canada 3-1 in a pre-tournament exhibition in Blaine, Minnesota, was just too much for coach Howie Draper’s team to handle.

"It's hard to pinpoint what the key problem is," Draper said. "We're playing against a really good team over there. And we've got to play our best. We've got to bring whatever we can to try and better them. And we're just not quite there yet as a group."

"I think we're doing a good job handling our emotions," said Canada's Sarah MacEachern. "Obviously, it's a huge rivalry, and we wanted to win. But we're ready to go for the next team. And we hope that we can meet [the U.S.] again, coming later in the tournament. It's definitely fuel."

This was the 20th all-time U18 Women’s Worlds game between the U.S. and Canada, including 12 of the 13 gold medal games. Ten games were decided in extra time, illustrating how close this rivalry normally is. However, the U.S. – which leads the world with eight gold medals to Canada’s five – retains the head-to-head edge with 13 wins and seven losses.

A flag-waving frenzy gripped U.S. supporters as the game got off to a fast, physical start at LaBahn Arena. In the first minute, the dexterous and devious Kirsten Simms nearly scored on a wraparound after banking the puck off the back of the net to avoid a Canadian checker.

The top-ranked U.S. power play was red-hot heading into this showdown. The U.S. came in clicking at 44.4 percent (4-for-9) with two PP goals in each of their wins over Sweden (6-1) and Finland (5-0). Meanwhile, Canada entered as the tournament’s most penalized team (26 PIM), which was concerning.

"It's nice to capitalize on those chances that we get, and especially moving forward, the power plays are going to be more and more crucial," Gorbatenko said. "So it's nice to have it clicking at the right time."

The U.S. got the first 5-on-4 when defender Sarah MacEachern was nabbed for tripping up Tessa Janecke. It took just 31 seconds for the U.S. to cash in. Kaiser tipped Finley McCarthy’s shot from the right faceoff circle past Canadian starting goalie Hailey MacLeod on the short side at 4:15. 

"I couldn't have done it without my teammates, because I just tipped it in," said Kaiser.

The Canadians would get their first power play mid-period when Kaiser wrestled blueliner Sara Swiderski to the ice behind MacLeod’s net. It became a 5-on-3 for 1:17 when Cassandra Hall threw an illegal hit in the American zone. The best Canadian chance saw Jocelyn Amos ring one off the cross bar. Canada wouldn't get any closer.

The U.S. jumped into a 2-0 lead at 14:02. With the Americans swirling in the Canadian zone, Edwards found Jordan at the centre point for a drive that beat MacLeod through traffic.

Opportunism and skill led to the third U.S. goal off a Canadian defensive zone turnover. Kaiser skimmed the puck to Lindsay in the slot and she lifted it past MacLeod’s blocker at 17:28.

In the second period, thanks to relentless U.S. forechecking, Scannell snared the puck to MacLeod's right and surprised the Canadian goalie with a high shot that dinged in off the iron at 15:29.

Just 1:14 later, Gorbatenko notched the fifth U.S. goal with a heavy wrister from the slot. She bowled over teammate Elyssa Biederman (the smallest U.S. player at 155 cm and 52 kg) and the celebrations were slightly muted until it was clear that Biederman was fine to skate off under her own power. The goal ended MacLeod's night, and Mari Pietersen took over in net for Canada.

Gorbatenko had "at least 50 friends and probably 20 family members as well" to cheer her on, and the crowd in general was buzzing.

The Canadians managed to mount some pressure thereafter, but Bergmann maintained her focus, frustrating everyone from Madison Chantler to Holly Abela with great stops.

In the third period, Edwards made it 6-0 on the power play, taking a drop pass from Simms and unleashing a heavy wrister over Pietersen's glove at 10:22.

At 11:09, St. Martin put the U.S. up 7-0 with another power play goal, a bad-angle shot that went in off Henderson's outstretched stick.

"I think there was actually a lot of positives from that game, despite the score," MacEachern said. "It's hard to look at it that way. But it was a lesson that we learned."

This was the first official IIHF U18 meeting between the North American superpowers since the 2020 gold medal game in Bratislava. There, the U.S.’s Abbey Murphy – a future silver medalist at the 2021 Women’s Worlds and 2022 Olympics – drew first blood with a first-period power play goal. Canada’s Sarah Paul netted the equalizer in the third period. In overtime, Kiara Zanon made the U.S. world champions with her 2-1 winner, finishing off a 2-on-0 break with Maggie Nicholson.

Canada might rule the Olympics and Women’s Worlds as reigning champions, but at the U18 Women's Worlds, the Americans sure look like the cream of the crop right now.

The key to that assessment, though, is "right now." The real games are about to get underway. And as Marie-Philip Poulin (with a nod to Yogi Berra) taught us with Canada's miraculous last-minute comeback in the 2014 Olympic gold medal game in Sochi, it ain't over till it's over.