Canada’s Marie-Philip Poulin to miss game against USA

Canada will be without one of its star players for the biggest game of the Winter Olympics so far.

Hockey Canada announced that captain Marie-Philip Poulin will not be in the lineup for Canada’s marquee matchup with the United States on Tuesday night due to a lower-body injury.

Poulin suffered a lower-body injury during Canada’s 5-1 win over Czechia on Monday. In the latter half of the first period, the five-time Olympian was hit hard by Czech forward and New York Sirens rookie Kristýna Kaltounková. Poulin fell awkwardly to the ice, and was in clear distress as she trudged off the ice.

Kaltounková was penalized for an illegal hit on the play. Poulin returned to the ice for the second half of the player advantage, but immediately after her first touch, she skated off the ice and went right down the tunnel, not putting weight on her left leg.

Though she returned to the bench near the end of the first period, the 34-year-old was absent when the middle frame got underway and was later pronounced out.

Poulin’s absence ends a streak of 23 consecutive games at the Winter Games. Even as one of the older players in the PWHL, the Montreal Victoire star hasn’t missed a game since suffering an injury during the league’s inaugural season.

It’s not yet known if Poulin will be ready to go on Thursday, when Canada wraps up the group stage against Finland.

This means Canada will play an Olympic game for the first time since the Turin Olympics 20 years ago. It obviously comes at a terrible time, as the team gets set to take on the perennial favorites to pretty much determine who will finish first in Group A. Coming into Tuesday night, the U.S. has won six straight meetings – twice at the IIHF Women’s World Championship and the four Rivalry Series games two months ago. It’s the longest win streak by the Americans over Canada leading up to the Winter Games since 2002.