On Tuesday, February 10, 2026, at the Milan Cortina Olympic Games, 2026 saw the United States women’s hockey team win the knockout round to secure their berth in the quarterfinals match, where they will face Italy. The team defeated Canada in a dominating victory by 5-0. With the win, the USA team became the No. 1 seed team replacing Canada. They won their four group-stage matches with a total score of 20-1.
So far, Canada has remained one of the top teams in women’s hockey, followed by the U.S. and then the other teams. Meanwhile, besides the U.S., Canada has faced only two other opponents and has a combined score of 9-1. They have one game left to play against Finland.
Canada has currently won five Olympic golds out of the seven-appearance made and is leading the all-time series by a narrow mark. In between that, the U.S. seems to have grown and developed on their part, resulting in one of the dominating rivals for Canada.
The same happened in the gold medal match of the 2025 World Championship, where the Americans edged past the Canadian team. Their prolific run continued as they won four Rivalry Series matchups by a combined score of 24-7, which they won earlier this winter.
U.S. vs. Canada match summary
The Tuesday match between the U.S. and Canada showcased the difference in the speed and power of both teams. In the absence of their captain, Marie-Philip Poulin, who was out due to a lower body injury, Canada struggled to score and generate chances for them.
They also had the disadvantage of missing a quarterback required in the power play. Meanwhile, the Americans were dominant in their attacks and had a great depth to their gameplay while being able to find the back of the net five times. Star players like Hilary Knight, Kendall Coyne Schofield and Alex Carpenter, however, failed to score any goals.
For the U.S. team, the star of the show was, however, Abbey Murphy, who secured three goals alone for the team. The highlight of the match was her no-look, behind-the-back pass given to Hannah Bilka, secured at the end of the first period. Continuing the run, Murphy was able to secure penalties and led the team to four power-play advantages.
Heaping praise on Harvey’s performance, Team U.S. defender Caroline Harvey said, “She’s an unbelievable player. She can fill any role. Obviously she drew four penalties and she got us on the board getting those assists. She really does it all for us.”
