Canada edges U.S. in Worlds opener in shootout

The Canadian Women's National Team rallied for a 3-2 shootout victory over the United States on Tuesday in the opener of the 2013 International Ice Hockey Federation Women's World Championship before 11,174 at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa.

Jennifer Wakefield of Toronto, Ont., scored the decisive goal in the shootout to give Canada the one-goal victory. The Americans grabbed an early 2-0 lead on first-period goals by Monique Lamoureux at the 4:05 mark and Brianna Decker at 18:54.

"It was the first game with a lot of energy and emotion," U.S. national coach Katey Stone said. "We played hard and it was a tough game that could have gone either way. We'll manage it better and come together even further as the next week in Ottawa moves on."

Rebecca Johnston scored 11:13 into the third and teammate Catherine Ward scored the equalizer for Canada with 1:47 remaining in regulation to square the contest and send it to overtime. Canada's Meghan Agosta and Hilary Knight also scored in the shootout, which ended after four rounds of shooters.

“We wanted to start with a good level of intensity, be physical, get the momentum, but it didn't work out like that,” Canadian forward Caroline Ouellette told the media after the game. "Still, we battled in the third. That was our best period. We crashed the net, had several chances. I think we have to build from that and play three periods like we played in the third."

Canada will continue play in the eight-team tournament on Wednesday, when it faces Switzerland. The United States plays Finland.

Team USA has won four gold medals and 10 silvers in the 14 previous Women's World Championships. The U.S. has won four of the last six tournaments (2005, 2008, 2009, 2011).

In the other games played Tuesday, Germany defeated Russia, 4-0; Finland defeated Switzerland, 2-1; and the Czech Republic scored a 3-2 victory over Sweden.