BEIJING -- Canada's women have rewritten Olympic hockey's record book en route to the final in Beijing.
A gold medal is more important to them.
In a 10-3 win over Switzerland in Monday's semifinal, Canada blitzed the record for most goals scored in the tournament (54) and set new marks for the fastest four and five goals in a game.
Canada has reached every final since women's hockey made its Olympic debut in 1998.
Canada will face defending champion United States in pursuit of a fifth gold medal Thursday (11:10 p.m. ET Wednesday) at Wukesong Sports Centre.
"We know that it's sitting there and we've got to go out and have a gold-medal performance," assistant captain Brianne Jenner said.
The U.S. beat Finland 4-1 in Monday's later semifinal. After four consecutive gold medals, Canada lost 3-2 in a shootout to the Americans four years ago in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Canada's five-player units operating seamlessly with speed and creativity makes the 2022 edition explosive on offence.
"The amount of goals that we've scored is no accident," Jenner said. "This is something that we put a lot of work into, our team offence."
Marie-Philip Poulin paced Canada on Monday with two goals, including one of the prettiest of the tournament driving in from the wing.
Massaging the puck with her blade as she cut in front of the net, the captain finished with a backhand. Poulin scored the other from her favoured spot at the top of the faceoff circle.
"Some of the plays she's making, you just can't draw that stuff up," head coach Troy Ryan said.
Rookie Claire Thompson -- who has set a tournament record for points by a defender with two goals and 10 assists -- smartly set up Blayre Turnbull in the slot from the side of Switzerland's net.
Jenner's ninth goal of the tournament equalled the record jointly held by Canada's Meghan Agosta and Switzerland's Stephanie Marty (2010).
Canada's Thompson, Jamie Lee Rattray, Renata Fast, Erin Ambrose, Emily Clark and Emma Maltais also scored Monday.
Canada's 44 goals in 2010 was the previous tournament high. Four goals in a span of two minutes five seconds, and five goals in 3:24, in Monday's opening period also erased the previous records.
"I think that we're taking the game to new heights right now," forward Sarah Nurse said. "I know that people look at the scores and again think that we just dominate teams, but I think that what we're doing on the ice right now is we're pushing the pace for women's hockey.
"We're playing a style of hockey that's never been seen in our tournament before."
Nurse's four assists Monday gave her a dozen in Beijing and tied the record held by Canada's Hayley Wickenheiser (2010).
The Americans and Canadians have met in every gold-medal game except 2006.
The U.S. took the inaugural crown in Nagano, Japan, in 1998 before Canada rattled off four straight titles in 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014.
Sweden upset the Americans in a semifinal before falling 4-1 to Canada in 2006.
Ryan felt his team could have cleaned up a few line changes, and penalty killers needed to concentrate more on clearing the puck instead of turning it into a short-handed scoring chance Monday.
Canada also gave up more than two goals in a game for the first time in the tournament. After a 51-save performance in a 4-2 win over the U.S. in Pool A, Ann-Renee Desbiens turned away 10 of 13 shots.
Captain Lara Stalder scored two power-play goals and Aline Mueller also scored for the Swiss.
Starting goalie Andrea Braendli was out after giving up four goals on 18 shots midway through the opening period. Saskia Maurer made 37 saves in relief.
Forward Melodie Daoust, who led Canada in scoring en route to a world championship last summer, returned to the lineup. She hadn't played since an upper-body injury in an opening 12-1 win over Switzerland back on Feb. 3.
Switzerland defended its own zone better at times Monday, but didn't sustain it. Five Canadian goals in less than four minutes starting at 7:16 of the opening period left no doubt which country would play for gold.
A timeout called after Canada's third goal failed to reset the Swiss, who will play the Finns for the bronze medal Wednesday.
"We just had a blackout for four minutes," Swiss head coach Colin Muller said. "You can't give them a five-goal advantage.
"You can't give them that momentum because they're just like sharks when they smell blood."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 14, 2022
