Team Canada falls to United States as Olympic women’s hockey rivalry is renewed

It wasn’t Team Canada’s day at the Milano Cortina 2026 women’s hockey tournament on Tuesday.

The Canadians fell 5-0 to the rival United States at Milano Santagiulia Arena, dropping their record to 2-1 in Group A play. Canada will play their final preliminary round game on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET against Finland.

The Americans, playing their final game of the preliminary round, improved to 4-0 and secured top spot in Group A, which also includes Canada, Finland, Czechia and Switzerland. All five teams in Group A earn spots in the quarterfinals, which begin on Friday.

The United States has now won seven straight games against Canada, which includes a four-game sweep in this season’s Rivalry Series. The Americans are the defending world champions while the Canadians are looking to defend the Olympic gold they won at Beijing 2022.

History indicates that this may not be the last meeting between Canada and the United States at these Games. The two have met in six of the seven gold medal games in Olympic women’s hockey history.

One of the most prominent players in those previous gold medal meetings was Marie-Philip Poulin. Team Canada had to play without their captain against the Americans after she was injured on a hit in the first period against Czechia on Monday. Poulin, who had played in 24 straight Olympic games for Canada, took one shift following the hit but quickly headed back to the bench in discomfort. She did not return and was ruled out of Tuesday’s game with a lower body injury.

With Poulin out, veteran Brianne Jenner, who is playing in her fourth Olympic Winter Games, wore the “C” for Canada.

READ: Four-goal first period pushes Team Canada to women’s hockey win over Czechia

The United States opened the scoring 3:45 into the first period. Following a faceoff win, Caroline Harvey skated in from the blue line and beat Ann-Renée Desbiens five-hole as she was dealing with some traffic in front.

A few minutes later, Canada’s Blayre Turnbull was called for an illegal hit. The United States generated some chances but could not add to their lead. Shots were 9-2 in favour of the Americans halfway through the first.

The Americans scored again with 2:42 remaining. Abbey Murphy grabbed the puck from behind the goal line and spun a blind pass to an open Hannah Bilka in front, making it 2-0. The United States nearly grabbed a three-goal lead in the final minute but Desbiens made a pad stop to keep the deficit at two.

The United States went to an early power play in the second period when Sarah Fillier was called for interference. Not long into the advantage, Kirsten Simms got the last touch as the Americans were able to jam the puck past Desbiens’ pad. The goal was reviewed to see if the puck crossed the line and then challenged by Canada for goaltender interference, but it would stand.

READ: Team Canada defeats Switzerland in women’s hockey opener

The Canadian power play, which entered the game 5/9 so far in Milan, went to work midway through the second. The Canadians struggled to generate quality chances, even going offside when they had numbers entering the zone. Canada was only able to fire 20 shots in the game, 10 of which came in the third period.

The United States offence continued to roll with seven minutes remaining in the middle frame when Murphy found Bilka again. Bilka ripped a shot top corner past Desbiens to extend the lead to 4-0.

After Canada couldn’t convert on a power play that carried over into the third period, Desbiens made a big save off Kendall Coyne Schofield at the side of the goal.

With 8:07 left to play, Laila Edwards carried the puck into the offensive zone a ripped a shot blocker side past Desbiens. Canada made a goaltending change after the goal as Emerance Maschmeyer took over for the rest of the game.

Canada won their first two games at Milano Cortina 2026, defeating Switzerland 4-0 and Czechia 5-1. Their final preliminary round game on Thursday was originally scheduled to be played a week earlier but the match was postponed due to a norovirus outbreak impacting the Finnish team.

Quarterfinal games will take place Friday and Saturday followed by the semifinals on Monday, Feb. 16. The gold and bronze medal games will be held on Thursday, Feb. 19.