USA continued their dominance over Canada in international play with their seventh straight win, a 5-0 decision, this one coming at the Olympic games with USA securing top spot heading to the quarterfinals.
USA defeated Canada 5-0 at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics. The win was USA's seventh straight against Canada and secured top spot in the women's hockey tournament for USA heading to the quartrfinals.
Early in the first, Caroline Harvey walked in from the blueline and beat Ann-Renee Desbiens low to open the scoring.
Later in the first, Abbey Murphy grabbed a puck below the goal line and found a wide open Hannah Bilka out front who went high to beat Desbiens and make it 2-0. It was a defensive lapse for Canada's blueliners and backcheckers who left two American uncovered out front.
In the second period after Abbey Murphy drew one of the four penalties she drew in the game, Kirsten Simms pushed home a goal on a net front scramble. The play was not initially called a goal but after a review, USA was awarded the goal. Canada then challenged for goaltender interference, but was unsuccessful sending them back to the penalty kill.
Before the frame was out, Bilka added her second of the night to give USA a 4-0 lead, the biggest ever by Team USA over Canada at the Olympics. The previous mark came from USA's 7-4 preliminary round win over Canada in 1998 when they scored two empty net goals late in the game.
In the third period, Laila Edwards came off the bench and collected the puck in the neutral zone. She skated the puck over the blueline backing in Canada's defenders before ripping a shot under the bar beating Desbiens, and forcing Canada to make a goaltending change.
USA's five goal lead added to their historic differential.
Caroline Harvey finished with a goal and two assists to go with Hannah Bilka's two goals. Abbey Murphy not only drew penalties, but collected three assists on the night.
"They're our rivals and they give us their best game always...they come out relentless...they're our rivals for a reason and we love playing them," Caroline Harvey said in an intermission interview with NBC.
Aerin Frankel stopped all 20 shots she faced against Canada for the shutout.
This group continues to grow and the leadership in the locker room has led to success on the ice,” said John Wroblewski head coach of Team USA. “Today was another step toward our goal, and we’ll head into the quarterfinals ready to compete and keep this momentum rolling.”
The win was USA's seventh straight against Canada outscoring them 35-11 in that stretch. USA swept Canada at the 2025 World Championships winning gold, and for the first time swept Canada in four straight games at the Rivalry Series. Those wins included a 10-4 victory at the Rivalry Series, the most ever scored against Team Canada. With USA's historic goal differential at the Olympics this year, the team continues to add to their list of firsts in lopsided wins over Canada.
Canada was without captain Marie-Philip Poulin who was injured in Canada's preliminary round game against Czechia yesterday.
The two teams could face off again in the gold medal game. Canada will close out their preliminary round play on February 12 against Finland making up their previously postponed game.