US downs defending champion Canada 2-1 to stay perfect at women’s hockey worlds

CESKE BUDEJOVICE, Czech Republic (AP) — The United States downed defending champion Canada 2-1 at the women’s hockey world championship on Sunday in a matchup of the game’s global powers.

Lee Stecklein and Megan Keller scored for the Americans who made it three wins from three in Group A. U.S. goalie Aerin Frankel made 18 saves.

Laura Stacey got the lone goal for Canada and captain Marie-Philip Poulin recorded her fifth assist in the tournament to top the scoring table with six points.

“We played like a team today,” U.S. head coach John Wroblewski said. “It’s games like this that you have to grind out and from puck drop to final whistle we did just that.”

Stecklein wristed a shot high into the net from the point to put the Americans 1-0 ahead 10:36 into the opening period.

It was the second goal at the tournament for the defenseman who took the past year off to focus on her PWHL career.

Keller made it 2-0 in the middle period after skating from the neutral zone to the slot before netting past Ann-Renee Desbiens with 7:38 to go.

Stacey scored on a breakaway 6:50 into the final period.

The U.S. previously routed Finland 7-1 and shut out the Czechs 4-0. Canada had recorded two shutout wins, blanking Finland 5-0 and Switzerland 4-0.

Canada has won 13 world titles, followed by the U.S. with 10, in the previous 23 tournaments.

Canada won the final after a thrilling 6-5 overtime win over the U.S. in last year’s tournament held in Utica, New York. The Americans won in 2023, beating host Canada.

The U.S. completes the preliminary round against Switzerland on Tuesday, Canada plays host Czech Republic on Monday.

Earlier, Sweden shut out Japan 2-0 in its third straight win.

Paula Bergstrom and Hanna Thuvik scored for Sweden in the Group B game. Sweden goalie Emma Soderberg made 17 saves for the second straight shutout.

Sweden tops the group with nine points with Japan trailing by three points in second.

Norway beat Hungary 3-0 in a game of the two newly promoted teams.

Andrine Furulund and Emma Bergesen scored a goal apiece in the middle period and Millie Rose Sirium added the third into an empty net in the third to lead Norway to its first victory at the tournament after a 27-year absence from the top division.

Norway goalie Ena Nystrom stopped 45 shots.

Hungary remains pointless and goalless after losses to Sweden and Japan by the same 2-0 score in its previous games in Group B.

AP Women’s Hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey

Emma Maltais of Canada, back, challenges United States' Megan Keller during the group A match between United States and Canada at the Women's Ice Hockey Championships in Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Blayre Turnbull of Canada passes the puck during the group A match between United States and Canada at the Women's Ice Hockey Championships in Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

United States' Aerin Frankel makes a save during the group A match between United States and Canada at the Women's Ice Hockey Championships in Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Ann-Renee Desbiens of Canada fails to make a save during the group A match between United States and Canada at the Women's Ice Hockey Championships in Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

United States' Megan Keller celebrates after scoring her sides second goal during the group A match between United States and Canada at the Women's Ice Hockey Championships in Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

United States' Lee Stecklein, right, celebrates with teammates after scoring her sides first goal during the group A match between United States and Canada at the Women's Ice Hockey Championships in Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

From left, Fruzsina Mayer of Hungary, Emilie Kruse of Norway and goalkeeper Ena Nyström of Norway in action during the IIHF Women's World Championship, Group B, match between Hungary and Norway, in Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Václav Pancer/CTK via AP)

Norway's players line up during the national anthem for the winners during the IIHF Women's World Championship, Group B, match between Hungary and Norway, in Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Václav Pancer/CTK via AP)

From left, goalkeeper Miyuu Masuhara of Japan, Umeka Odaira of Japan, Ida Karlsson of Sweden, Shiori Yamashita of Japan and Ebba Hedqvist of Sweden in action during the IIHF Women's World Championship, Group B, match between Japan and Sweden, in Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Luboš Pavlíček/CTK via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court seemed likely to uphold a key preventive-care provision of the Affordable Care Act in a case heard Monday.

Conservative justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett appeared skeptical of arguments that Obamacare's process for deciding which services must be fully covered by private insurance is unconstitutional.

The case could have big ramifications for the law's preventive care coverage requirements for an estimated 150 million Americans. Medications and services that could be affected include statins to prevent heart disease, lung cancer screenings, HIV-prevention drugs and medication to lower the chance of breast cancer for high-risk women.

The plaintiffs argued that requirements to cover those medications and services are unconstitutional because a volunteer board of medical experts that recommended them should have been Senate- approved. The challengers have also raised religious and procedural objections.

The Trump administration defended the mandate before the court, though President Donald Trump has been a critic of the law. The Justice Department said board members don’t need Senate approval because they can be removed by the health and human services secretary.

A majority of the justices seemed inclined to side with the government. Kavanaugh said he didn't see indications in the law that the board was designed to have the kind of power that would require Senate approval, and Barrett questioned the plaintiff's apparently “maximalist" interpretation of the board's power.

A ruling is expected by the end of June. Some justices suggested they could send the case back to the conservative U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, leaving unanswered questions about which medications and services remain covered.

The case came before the court after the appeals court struck down some preventive care coverage requirements. It sided with Christian employers and Texas residents who argued they can’t be forced to provide full insurance coverage for things like medication to prevent HIV and some cancer screenings.

They were represented by well-known conservative attorney Jonathan Mitchell, who represented Trump before the high court in a dispute about whether he could appear on the 2024 ballot.

Not all preventive care was threatened by the ruling. A 2023 analysis prepared by the nonprofit KFF found that some screenings, including mammography and cervical cancer screening, would still be covered without out-of-pocket costs.

The appeals court found that coverage requirements were unconstitutional because they came from a body — the United States Preventive Services Task Force — whose members were not nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

FILE - The Supreme Court is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington, Dec. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)