Canada beat Germany punching their ticket to the Olympic women's hockey semifinals. It means they'll play for a medal, just as they have at every Olympic Games in history. But it doesn't mean Canada played well.

In fact, there were many moments in Canada's  5-1 win against Germany that the team looked worse for wear than they have at any other point in the Olympic tournament. There were exceptions to that, including Marie-Philip Poulin, who returned from injury after missing Canada's final two preliminary round games. Poulin did not look like a player who had missed time with injury; instead, she was relentless on the puck, physical, and one of Canada's more consistent offensive threats.

She capped off her return with a third period power play goal to tie Canada's all-time Olympic goal scoring record, equalling Hayley Wickenheiser with 18, and becoming only the fourth woman in history, alongside Wickenheiser, Hilary Knight, and Jayna Hefford to score at five different Olympic Games.

Overall however, Canada's compete, defending, and ability to consistently attack in diverse ways was lacklustre. Were it not for a pair of goaltending mishaps that Germany's Sandra Abstreiter would certainly like back, the result in this game could have looked drastically different. 

From top to bottom, Canada's defensive unit continues to struggle. If the German roster had even a modicum more skill, it could have been a very different game for Canada. Canada was lucky to avoid Group B winner Sweden in their quarterfinal, a team who took them to overtime at the 2024 World Championship quarterfinals before Canada eked out a 3-2 overtime win.

There were moments when German forwards walked through and around Jocelyne Larocque and Sophie Jaques who took poor angles and looked cemented on their feet. They weren't alone however as Renata Fast, Erin Ambrose, and Ella Shelton continued to fight the puck and too often tried to force pucks through nonexistent lanes. Shelton has had an uncharacteristically troublesome season following her trade to the Toronto Sceptres that has backfired for both the Sceptres, and Shelton individually. She was visibly fighting the puck at times in Canada's zone resulting in lost possession. Fast saw too many shots blocked, and on the power play in the third coughed up a puck at the offensive blueline that led to Germany's first ever goal against Canada in international women's hockey as Franziska Feldmeier skated in on a breakaway to score. 

In their own zone, Canada too often lost races to loose pucks, and spent too much time reaching for 50/50 pucks. With this blueline's lack of speed, issues with Canada's gap and Canada's coaching choice to continue to allow and encourage their blueline who has not produced offensively to freely join rushes, frequently put the laggard group out of position. While they managed to recoup against Germany, stylistically, it's an element Team USA has exposed and capitalized on repeatedly. One of the more interesting match ups was Canada's consistent struggle to defend against Laura Kluge, who stood out as one of the best forwards on the ice, in part because of the time, space, and angles Canada took while defending the Boston Fleet forward, who regularly took what she was given.

Canada's blueline is struggling to a degree this program has never seen before despite their experience at the international and PWHL levels. Individually, there are talented parts on Canada's back end, but collectively, the group is floundering. If ever a blueline needed to be told to keep it simple, to stay home, not pinch, and to put pucks deep when in doubt, this is the group. 

Canada knew they were going to win this game. At times that sentiment showed as they stood flat footed, reached for pucks, or made careless plays with the puck on their stick. It should have been an opportunity to absolutely wipe the floor with Germany and build positive habits. Poulin certainly led by example, but many of Canada's veterans were unable, or unwilling, to follow. While they scored early in the game, the veteran line of Sarah Nurse, Brianne Jenner, and Emma Maltais struggled from that point on. The line could not maintain zone possession, and more importantly, could not regain possession while they were on the ice. The biggest gap in this area was Canada aforementioned defensive group. More effort may not benefit this group who already looks to be clutching their sticks tightly, but when they made errors, the group has lacked urgency in pursuit.

One highlight for Canada in this tournament has been their power play. With assistant coach and Canadian legend Caroline Ouelette in charge of Canada's power play, the team has thrived with the player advantage, and did again against Germany.

Canada went 2-for-7 on the power play in their quarterfinal win and is now operating with an unheard of 41.18% power play efficiency. Through five games, 36.8% of Canada's goals have come on the power play.

Marie-Philip Poulin's return and her play in the game was certainly a boon for Canada. She looked sharp, and scored her 18th career Olympic goal trying Canada's all-time goal scoring lead at the Olympics. 

Her line, which also included Sarah Fillier and Daryl Watts looked dangerous. It's the first meaningful shuffle Canada has made up front in months, but cannot be their only, as it was a move that paid off. Now it's up to better asset management of the lines Canada has.

The line of Julia Gosling, Kristin O'Neill, and Jennifer Gardiner continued to consistently shine, turning momentum, playing hard on pucks, and generating chances. While they saw slightly more ice time, the trio remained Canada's least utilized line. 

Emily Clark continued to get better by the game as well, providing life to her line, which generated an important goal early in the third for Canada to give Canada extra insurance.