2026 Olympic Women’s Hockey: Top standouts from Canada vs. USA
For the first time in 24 straight Olympic women’s hockey games and 20 years, Canada took to the ice without superstar captain Marie-Philip Poulin. It didn’t go well.
The last time that happened was also in Italy, with a Turin 2006 gold medal game win against Sweden, a far cry from what unfolded at the Arena Santa Giulia on Tuesday, as the USA thrashed their rivals 5-0 in preliminary-round action at Milan Cortina 2026.
It marked the largest margin of victory in the 11-game Olympic history between the two preeminent nations in women’s hockey, eclipsing the USA’s 7-4 win in the first-ever Olympic meeting at the Nagano 1998 Games.
Given the USA’s four dominant performances in the Rivalry Series sweep in the fall, they entered the tournament as heavy favorites, boasting a youthful roster under head coach John Wroblewski.
Meanwhile, Canada opted for experience, keeping much of the core from the past decade and facing a USA side with nine players younger than Jenn Gardiner, Canada’s youngest player at 24. Canada’s experience — the team had an average age of 29 — and confidence despite Poulin’s absence, as beneficial as they can be, struggled to keep up with the Americans.
They hope that doesn’t happen again if these two teams reacquaint themselves in a gold-medal clash.
“I think we just got down early and didn’t find ways to make little plays, I thought we were really sloppy,” said veteran Canadian, Sarah Nurse. “With this ice surface here in Milan, we have to eliminate the neutral zone, and I don’t think we did that today.”
Hilary Knight, who entered the game one goal away from the all-time USA Olympic goals record, forced Canada’s Anne-Rennée Desbiens into an early save before the USA found the back of the net on the second shot from Caroline Harvey, just 3:45 into the matchup.
Hitting the back of the net so early changed the game’s outlook for both teams, even as Canada relied on its recent experience battling from behind against the high-octane Americans.
The USA extended its lead soon after, as Abbey Murphy drew two Canadian defenders below the goalline in the offensive zone, before spinning around and finding Hannah Bilka to finish unchallenged in front of the net.
The U.S. is up 2-0 against Canada Watch live here: gem.cbc.ca/hockey-canada-…
Kirsten Simms added another to make it 3-0 with a second-period power-play goal, which bobbled over the line, sparking a goalline review, before a failed coach’s challenge for goaltender interference from Canada’s bench boss, Troy Ryan.
Bilka added a second goal, while Harvey and Murphy picked up additional points to put the USA up 4-0 by the end of the second period, before Laila Edwards became the first Black American to score at the Olympics in women’s hockey to make it 5-0.
Murphy drops it - Bilka BURIES it. 😮💨 #WinterOlympics
Harvey headlined the effort with a goal and two assists, while Murphy had three assists, and Bilka scored twice, as the trio of the youngest American stars played a vital role in the landmark victory.
With the win, the USA locked in top spot in Group A and a date with host nation Italy in the quarterfinals, after advancing from Group B with historic victories over Japan and France. For Canada, they look to regroup against Finland after their tournament-opening matchup was postponed due to a Norovirus outbreak within the Finnish team.
All four Group A teams advance to the knockout stage, where Canada will likely face one of Germany or Sweden on the back end of a back-to-back, following the delayed group stage finale against Finland.
USA
Abbey Murphy, F
University of Minnesota standout Abbey Murphy has scored plenty of highlight-reel goals throughout her time in the NCAA and is well established in the USA Hockey picture now at her second Olympics. Still, this might have been her best game. Her assist to Bilka early on set the tone for the dominant performance, and she continued to drive her line, adding another two helpers, while drawing four penalties of the five Canada took in this matchup.
Caroline Harvey, D
Another collegiate standout, Harvey picked up the first goal of the day with a slick toe-drag before firing a shot through traffic, before playing a critical role through linkups with Murphy as her line dominated. The skillful defender is incredibly versatile and showed just how good she can be when tasked with a more offensive role as she was as the American play-driver from the back.
Canada
Daryl Watts, F
Canada’s top six underwent some adjustments without Poulin in the lineup, and the second line, Sarah Nurse, flanked by relative youngsters Daryl Watts and Sarah Fillier, stood out. Watts, in particular, showed a little bit more bite than usual in the way she drove plays forward and allowed Nurse to find open space off the puck. The line combined for four shots, and Watts had two, but overall, it was a disappointing day for Canada’s forwards.