Meghan Agosta scored three goals and two assists and Hayley Wickenheiser became the all-time goal scorer in Olympic history as Canada dominated Sweden 13-1 at UBC Thunderbird Arena on Wednesday night.
Wickenheiser’s goal at 5:36 of the second period was 16th of her Olympic career and she added four assists to go along with it.
Agosta’s third goal tied a single-Olympic scoring record, giving her eight in the Vancouver 2010 Games.
Canadian teammates Cherie Piper and Gillian Apps recorded two goals and two assists, while Tessa Bonhomme, Jayna Hefford, Haley Irwin, Sarah Vaillancourt and Marie-Philip Poulin-Nadeau all scored one for the home squad.
Caroline Ouellette recorded three assists in the win, giving her a tournament-leading nine.
Katarina Timglas scored the lone goal for the Swedish squad.
With the win, Canada (3-0) took over first place in Group A and Sweden (2-1) sits in second.
All-time leader in wins and shutouts, Canada’s goaltender Kim St. Pierre, was about as busy as a retirement home on a Saturday night, only having to make four saves in two periods of play before coach Mel Davidson replaced her with Charline Labonte.
The rematch of the gold medal game in Turin 2006 was really no contest for Team Canada.
The Canadian ladies’ opened up the scoring when Agosta and Piper broke in on a 2-on-1. Piper fed Agosta a beautiful pass, who then tipped it past Swedish goaltender Kim Martin’s stick-side.
Swedish forward Emma Eliasson looked frustrated with the Canadian pressure and took a roughing penalty at 7:52 of the first period.
On the ensuing man advantage, the Canadians showed why they have the number one ranked power play in the tournament when Poulin-Nadeau took a pass from Wickenheiser and made a beautiful fake, fooling Martin on the back-hand.
It was the first goal surrendered by the previously successful Swedish penalty kill in the whole tournament.
Canada went 3-for-7 on the power play, while Sweden went 1-for-4.
The defending gold medallists from Turin outshot the Swedes 23-2 in the first period, and registered 13 shots before Sweden managed its first.
Canada began the game with a relentless forecheck, swarming the net at every opportunity and putting Martin to the test early on, forcing her to make a flashy glove save on Hefford who was sent in all alone in the opening minutes of the period.
Martin was coming off a shutout victory against Switzerland but was facing a much tougher test in Canada this time around.
The hometown crowd watched their squad continue to pummel the defending silver medallists when three Canadian forwards scored within the span of one minute in the second period.
Hefford scored her fifth goal of the tournament at 5:14, and Wickenheiser replied soon after. Apps followed suit at 6:13 and made it 9-0.
Martin made 23 saves on 33 shots before she was replaced by Sara Grahn at 8:55 of the second period, after Canada made it 10-0.
It took the Canadians less than a minute to welcome her into the game when Piper tipped one past the helpless goaltender for her second goal of the game at 9:17.
The home team scored seven goals in the second period, and headed to the third period outshooting the visitors by a paltry 43-4 margin.
Canada may have gotten a little complacent in the third period when Rebecca Duke took a tripping penalty.
That allowed Timglas to tip home a rebound for Sweden’s only goal of the game at 12:16, coming with the man advantage.
The goal was the first allowed on the power play by the Canadian penalty kill in the tournament.
Overall Canada outshot team Sweden 52-13.
Danijela Rundqvist may have been one of Sweden’s lone bright spots offensively, recording a team-leading three shots on goal.
Swedish forward Erika Holst is the country’s all-time Olympic scorer but was blanked for the third straight game, and only recorded one shot.