LAKE PLACID, N.Y. - Erica McKenzie was the only player to score in a six-round shootout as the U.S. edged Canada 3-2 in the Four Nations Cup final Sunday.
U.S. goaltender Jessie Vetter made saves on Canada's Gina Kingsbury, Jayna Hefford, Natalie Spooner, Sarah Vaillancourt, Caroline Ouellette and Meghan Agosta during extra shots. Both Ouellette and Vaillancourt hit posts.
Charline Labonte stopped U.S. captain Natalie Darwitz twice and Gigi Marvin, Julie Chu and Angela Ruggiero before she was beaten by McKenzie.
Canada's run of titles at this annual Four Nations ended at four. The U.S. has now beaten Canada in two international tournaments this year following their victory at the world championship in April.
The Canadians beat the U.S. 4-2 in the preliminary round of the Four Nations but have lost three of their last four games against the Americans.
Ouellette and Hefford scored for Canada and Darwitz and Chu scored in regulation.
Both countries had power-play chances in overtime, but didn't score. Canada went 0-for-19 on the power play in the tournament.
Canadian Hayley Wickenheiser limped off the ice with a right leg injury late in the first period following a collision on Canada's blue-line.
Wickenheiser did not speak to reporters following the game. Head coach Melody Davidson said the captain was receiving treatment from team doctors and the coach didn't reveal her captain's status.
Hockey Canada would not disclose the nature of her injury until her professional men's team Eskilstuna Linden had been contacted in Sweden. Wickenheiser was scheduled to return to Sweden on Monday and Eskilstuna's next game is Wednesday.
Wickenheiser lay crumpled on the ice for a few seconds after her collision before skating to the Canadian bench favouring her right leg. After sitting on the bench in obvious pain for half a minute, she walked halfway down the bench and kneeled on it.
Davidson said she'd told Wickenheiser to go to the dressing room.
"There's probably a good chance (she could have played)," Davidson said. "I'll take responsibility for her not playing and not getting back on the bench.
"We kept her off to make sure she was going to be OK and be in a position to play for us and play for what she does for a living.
"I've been very cautious with our athletes in terms of the tweaks and the injuries we get because sometimes we bubble-gum and band-aid things too much with these players and we don't want any long-term effects."
A turnover in Canada's zone cost Canada the lead as Julie Chu beat Labonte between the pads at 16:42 of the second period to tie it 2-2. Ouellette had given Canada a 2-1 lead at 10:28, when she cruised in from the wing and fooled Vetter with an off-speed chip shot.
The U.S. opened the scoring on Darwitz's power-play goal. The American captain beat Labonte with a low wrist shot glove side.
Hefford stripped the U.S. of the puck at Canada's blue-line and won the footrace for a short-handed goal at 16:41 to tie it 1-1. She put a backhand over Vetter's right shoulder.
Sweden defeated Finland 3-1 for the bronze medal.
While players from all countries have said for years that any country is beatable, the results suggest otherwise - the U.S. and Canada have been perennial finalists, with the Finns and Swedes playing for third.
But parity among the top four countries in women's hockey seems more of a reality now with Sweden's first win over Canada at this tournament, and Finland beating the U.S. for the first time at the world championships in April.
''It's good for the game, no matter what,'' U.S. coach Katey Stone said. ''It's not necessarily good for Canada in the moment. It's like when the U.S. lost to Finland at the world championships, when you can take yourself out of the picture, that needs to happen.
''There needs to be that understanding that if you don't come to play, you can get stung by someone any day.''
The 2009 women's world championship goes April 4-12 in Hameenlinna, Finland.
Notes: Canada is 47-31-1 all-time versus the U.S. . . China and Slovakia won Olympic qualifying tournaments Sunday to complete the eight-country field for the 2010 in Vancouver. They join Canada, the U.S., Sweden, Finland, Russia and Switzerland. The Slovak women are ranked 16th in the world . Finland goaltender Noora Raty, the most valuable player at the world championship in April, did not play in Sunday's bronze-medal game. She injured ligaments in her left knee during practice earlier in the tournament and expects to be she'll be sidelined for about six weeks.