Poulin scores in return, Canada beats Germany 5-1 in women's hockey Olympic quarterfinal

MILAN (AP) — Marie-Philip Poulin’s injured right knee held up just fine.

And the Canadian women’s hockey icon added another entry to her “Captain Clutch” reputation.

Returning to the lineup after missing two-plus games, Poulin injected a spark into a slow-starting Canadian team by making a key defensive play and then scoring to tie the Olympic career record in a 5-1 win over Germany in the quarterfinal round of the Milan Cortina Games on Saturday.

The goal, the 18th in her fifth Olympic Games, was a mere afterthought for Poulin, who matched former Canadian teammate and Hockey Hall of Famer Hayley Wickenheiser. Rejoining her teammates in the knockout round was her only motivation.

“Being a little bit back in the stands for the last two put things in perspective for sure,” Poulin said, after watching Canada drop a 5-0 decision to the U.S. before closing preliminary play a 5-0 win over Finland. “You want to be part of that, and you never want to be on the sideline due to an injury.”

Her teammates were happy to welcome back the 34-year-old, who earned her nickname for scoring three Olympic gold medal-clinching goals.

“She’s such a gamer. There’s never a doubt that when she’s on the ice, she’s ready,” Emily Clark said. “She does everything she has to do to be everything she can be for this team.”

Sarah Fillier had a goal and assist, and Brianne Jenner, Claire Thompson and Blayre Turnbull also scored for the defending Olympic champions. Emerance Maschmeyer stopped 10 shots.

Canada advanced to the semifinals set for Monday and will play Switzerland, which defeated Finland 1-0 in the day's other quarterfinal. The top-seeded and tournament-favored Americans will play Sweden, the Group B winner after the Swedes upset Czechia on Friday.

It was the first Olympic meeting between the two nations, while Canada improved to 9-0 overall in international play and has now outscored the Germans by a combined 83-1.

Franziska Feldmeier became the first German female player to score against Canada. Her goal came on a short-handed breakaway 8:42 into the third period after intercepting Renata Fast’s pass. Sandra Abstreiter finished with 38 saves.

“It’s always fun to score. And then to score against a team like Canada is always exciting,” Feldmeier said. “I think we showed that German ice hockey developed, especially women’s hockey."

The Germans showed promise in finishing second in Group B with a 3-1 record, but still have work to do to break into the top six following their fourth Olympic appearance and first since 2014.

Canada has a far richer tradition as five-time gold medalists, and much higher expectations, which placed an even greater emphasis on Poulin’s return after being sidelined in a 5-1 win over Czechia on Monday.

She made a tremendous impact despite getting eased back in being limited to spot shifts and power-play time by logging 15 1/2 minutes.

Five minutes in, Poulin chased down Germany’s Laura Kluge driving in on a short-handed breakaway. She clipped Kluge’s helmet with her stick to distract the forward while she got off her shot that was stopped by Maschmeyer.

She then capped the scoring from a familiar spot — parked in front of the net and redirecting in Fillier’s shot for a power-play goal with 4:30 remaining.

“Incredible player, incredible person,” Fillier said. “That’s amazing. I’m sure she won’t think it’s that cool, but she deserves it.”

Fillier was among several players who didn't know of Poulin's milestone until being informed after the game.

Coach Troy Ryan was fully aware, as well as the leadership presence Poulin provides his team.

“I’ve run out of things to say about Pou,” he said. “In my head, you'd almost think that was already her record. So when I see that, it’s just nice that she gets to be where she belongs.”

Ryan was less glowing over how his team muddled through an opening period that featured several giveaways and miscues.

“I thought we just didn’t compete to the level that we need to. I don’t think we were as difficult to play against as we need to be moving forward,” he said, before crediting his team for improving over the final 40 minutes.

Canada opened the scoring on its first shot on goal, with Jenner driving the net and redirecting in Emma Maltais’ centering pass 1:40 into the game. Thompson made it 2-0 with 3:19 left in the period by firing a shot from the left point that appeared to knuckle through Abstreiter’s legs. Fillier put Canada up 3-0 when her shot deflected in off Abstreiter’s stick with 2:30 left in the second period.

Alina Muller scored with 5:43 left in the second period, Andrea Braendli stopped 40 shots for her first Olympic career shutout, and Switzerland advanced to the semifinal round for just the third time in team history.

Muller plays for the PWHL's Boston Fleet, was a college star at Northeastern, and best known for scoring the decisive goal in Switzerland's bronze medal-winning 4-3 victory over Sweden at the 2014 Sochi Games — the only time the Swiss women have medaled.

Sanni Ahola stopped 13 shots for Finland, which beat Switzerland 3-1 in the preliminary round, but was shut out in its four other outings.

Muller scored off a faceoff to the left of the Finns' net, and slipped a shot through Ahola's legs.

The game was a rematch of nations who met in the 2022 Beijing Games bronze medal game, with Finland winning 4-0.

The Finns dealt with several setbacks at Milan, beginning with their preliminary round opener postponed because of a stomach virus depleting the team's roster. Finland also was without veteran defender Jenni Hiirikoski, who was ruled out with an upper-body injury sustained in a 5-0 loss to Canada on Thursday.

AP Winter Olympic: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Switzerland's Alina Muller (25) celebrates after scoring against Finland goalkeeper Sanni Ahola (1) during the second period of a women's ice hockey quarterfinal match at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Canada's Sarah Fillier (10) is congratulated by Marie-Philip Poulin (29) after Fuller scored a goal against Germany during the second period of a women's ice hockey quarterfinal match at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Germany's Franziska Feldmeier (7) scores her side's opening goal during a women's ice hockey quarterfinal game between Canada and Germany at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (Sun Fei/Pool Photo via AP)

Canada's Marie-Philip Poulin (29) tries to control the puck in front of Germany goalkeeper Sandra Abstreiter (35) during the second period of a women's ice hockey quarterfinal match at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Canada's Blayre Turnbull, left, takes a spot on the bench with Brianne Jenner (19) and Sarah Nurse (20) after Turnbull scored a goal against Germany during the third period of a women's ice hockey quarterfinal match at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Canada's Marie-Philip Poulin (29), Natalie Spooner, center, and Renata Fast (14) celebrate after a goal by Sarah Fillier during the second period of a women's ice hockey quarterfinal match at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

MADRID (AP) — Vinícius Júnior scored two penalties and a Real Madrid team without superstar Kylian Mbappé moved top of La Liga with a 4-1 win over Real Sociedad on Saturday.

Mbappé watched from the substitutes’ bench after missing some team training sessions during the week with discomfort in his left knee. Madrid coach Álvaro Arbeloa said Friday he was able to play, but evidently he did not want to rush his star goal-getter.

Nor did he need to.

Mbappé and Jude Bellingham, out with a hamstring injury, watched as Madrid produced an assured team performance to end the visitors’ 10-game unbeaten run across all competitions and move two points clear of Barcelona before the defending champion visits Girona on Monday.

“I think we did a spectacular job defensively and up front as well,” said team captain Fede Valverde, who scored his first goal of the season. "We had so many chances, but we just couldn’t convert them. It’s true they had some, too, but (goalkeeper Thibaut) Courtois was tremendous. It was a great match from the whole team.”

Perhaps Tuesday’s team-dinner at a fancy restaurant paid for by Mbappé and Vinícius helped focus the players before facing Benfica in the Champions League playoffs next week.

Gonzalo García opened the scoring with a slight touch to Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross in the fifth minute. However, it was to be a largely frustrating game for the young attacker, who failed to make more of other good opportunities.

Dean Huijsen conceded a penalty for bringing down Yangel Herrera, and Mikel Oyarzabal duly equalized from the spot with a hard high centrally placed shot in the 21st.

Referee Francisco José Hernández Maeso awarded another penalty at the other end four minutes later when Jon Aramburu caught Vinícius’ ankle, bringing him down. The Brazilian dusted himself off to score from the spot in the 25th.

Valverde gratefully scored the third in the 31st after being left too much space at the edge of the penalty box, and Gonzalo should have scored again when Valverde set him up for what looked like a simple tap in.

Vinícius made it 4-1 with his second spot kick after the break, awarded after Aramburu was again penalized for bringing him down.

Dani Carvajal made his long-awaited return around the hour mark when he replaced Alexander-Arnold for his first league appearance since Madrid’s 2-1 loss to Barcelona in October. Carvajal was reportedly unhappy that the 21-year-old Castilla player David Jiménez played at right back in Valencia last weekend.

“The most important thing is to win, for the team to get the three points and keep this momentum going,” Valverde said after the team's eighth league victory in a row.

Borja Iglesias scored in stoppage time, after having another seemingly good goal ruled out through VAR, to salvage a 2-2 draw for Celta Vigo at Espanyol.

A rueful Iglesias shook his head and smiled after having a 77th-minute goal disallowed when a long check determined there had been an offside infringement.

His frustrations grew when Ramón Terrats pulled the ball back for fellow substitute Tyrhys Dolan to score what he thought was the winner for Espanyol in the 86th.

But Iglesias equalized in the third minute of stoppage time when Pablo Durán set him up with his heel after a good run from Sergio Carreira.

Espanyol remained sixth and Celta a point behind in seventh.

Also Saturday, Getafe held on to upset visiting Villarreal 2-1, and 10-man Sevilla drew with Alaves 1-1 in a duel between two strugglers.

Sevilla midfielder Juanlu was sent off in the 16th minute with his second yellow card for a bad challenge.

Sevilla coach Matías Almeyda was also sent off, late, and he raged against the referee before he could be persuaded to leave.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe sits on the bench prior to the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Real Sociedad in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior celebrates scoring his side's 4th goal from the penalty spot during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Real Sociedad in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior, top left, scores a goal that was disallowed by the VAR during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Real Sociedad in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior, right, dribbles the ball past Real Sociedad's Jon Martin during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Real Sociedad in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior celebrates scoring his side's 4th goal from the penalty spot during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Real Sociedad in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)