PLYMOUTH, Mich. — Rebecca Johnston scored three times to help Canada beat the United States, 5-3, on Saturday night in a women’s hockey exhibition game at USA Hockey Arena.

Brianna Decker scored a pair of goals for the United States, and Hilary Knight had a goal and two assists.

Alex Rigsby made 17 saves for the Americans, who led, 3-1, early in the second period after Decker scored her second goal of the game.

Jilian Saulnier and Natalie Spooner also scored for Canada. Shannon Szabados (16 saves) and Ann-Renee Desbiens (18 saves) combined to stop 34 shots by the Americans.

Desbiens appeared to get hurt during a goalmouth scramble midway through the first after making two saves. Desbiens, a senior standout at Wisconsin, kept weight off her left skate as she was helped off the ice. Szabados replaced her.

“We learned a lot of things tonight,’’ said US coach Robb Stauber. “We can carry some things into the next game, and we will. When you’re up, 3-1, and you have them on the hook, we have to figure out how to get the job done because we were right there.’’

Johnston started the scoring 6:37 into the game and had two goals in the third, including an empty-netter with 32.4 seconds remaining.

The US team beat Canada earlier this year at the world championships, winning the eight-nation tournament for the third straight time over Canada and sixth time in seven chances.

‘‘We take that seriously and it still hurts,’’ Canadian forward Haley Irwin acknowledged. ‘‘It’s a great time of year for us to play them again.’’

The rivals meet again Monday night in Sarnia, Ontario.