Fillier stars, scores twice in Canada's victory over Switzerland at women's worlds

There isn't any doubt about who is the future marquee player of Team Canada's national women's team.

A year ago, Sarah Fillier first shone on the international stage at the senior level, helping her country claim gold at the 2021 IIHF Women's World Championship.

Now, with an Olympic gold from the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing also padding her resume, the Georgetown, Ont., native is riding the momentum of her success. Her two goals on Saturday, Aug. 27 paved the way for Canada's 4-1 win over Switzerland, improving the defending champs' record to 2-0.

Fillier's opening goal came at 10:15 into the game on a wrister from the slot, just seconds after she thought about attempting the famed "Michigan" lacrosse-style goal before relenting.

Sarah Fillier of Canada scores the 1-0 goal and celebrate with Victoria Bach during The IIHF World Championship Woman's ice hockey match between Canada and Switzerland. (Bo Amstrup/AP)

"Unfortunately, yes (I tried!)," Fillier sheepishly said on national TV during the first intermission.

Her tenacity was rewarded midway through the second period as her strong forecheck resulted in her second goal of the outing.

Fillier - the youngest player on the team at 22 years of age - is contributing to the scoresheet after having to adjust to a pair of new linemates. At both last year's worlds and February's Olympics, she was teamed with Melodie Daoust and Natalie Spooner to form the "Fil-Da-Spoon" line. But with the absence of the two veterans at this year's tournament, Fillier has been united with youngsters Jessie Eldridge and Sarah Potomak.

Emily Clark and Blayre Turnbull also scored for Canada,

Goaltender Ann Renee Desbiens had to make just seven saves for the win. Alina Marti was the only player to get the puck past Desbiens, firing a one-timer to convert a pass from Laura Zimmerman. Although Canada did catch a lucky break with just over five minutes remaining in the third period when an early whistle negated what would have been a Swiss power-play goal.

“I think we fell a little bit into what their game plan would have been more than what we wanted our game plan to be," coach Troy Ryan said to the media. "They obviously wanted to clog up the middle of the ice and protect between the dots and we just kind of made it like a circus outside the dots. A lot of puck possession but not a lot of finding ways to get inside the dots where goals are scored, so we have to take that next step to get inside the dots where we can score some more goals.”