Canada and the U.S. qualify for the semi-finals on Monday while Finland plays Germany in one quarter-finals and the Swiss and Russians play the other tomorrow.

The Canadians were still without their captain, Hayley Wickenheiser, who missed her second game with a UBI (upper-body injury), but her absence was barely felt from a potent offence led by Meghan Agosta-Marciano's hat trick.

The game was played before a raucous and young crowd of 18,013, a record for a women's hockey game, and included more than 375 girls' teams who are in town for provincial championships at many levels.

"I thought we played really well today," said goalie Shannon Szabados, who stopped 16 shots for the shutout. "We gave them a few power-play opportunities, but the girls battled hard and blocked a lot of shots, which made my night a little easier."

Bailey Bram opened the scoring at 14:25 with her first career goal, a quick shot in the slot made possible by a sensational backhand pass from Caroline Ouellette, back in the lineup after missing a game with injury.

Brianne Jenner upped the score a minute and a half later when she made a beautiful deflection off a Courtney Birchard point shot. Jenner scored again two minutes later on a tremendous individual effort. First, she barrelled down the right wing and drew a penalty as she fell into the end boards. She got up and swatted a loose puck past goalie Noora Raty from a bad angle, making it 3-0 and putting Canada in control.