For the seventh time in Olympic women’s hockey history, the United States and Canada will play for gold Thursday at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics.
USA and Canada met in all but one gold medal game since the Olympics added women’s hockey in 1998. Thus, it comes as no surprise that the rivals meet on the big stage once again.
HERE WE GO AGAIN, USA VS. CANADA FOR ALL THE GOLD 🥇👀
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 16, 2026
THURSDAY, 1:10p ET 🔥 pic.twitter.com/GuMpjSOTZ2
Canada leads all nations with five gold medals in women’s Olympic ice hockey. The Americans have two, most recently winning at the 2018 PyeongChang Games.
The United States clinched their finals berth with a 5-0 victory over Sweden on Monday, improving to 6-0-0-0 in Olympic play. The Americans outscored opponents 36-1 in six games; they have not allowed a goal since their opening contest against Latvia on Feb. 5.
Cayla Barnes became the 15th different American to record a goal in these Games. She was one of five different USA skaters to find the back of the net in the semifinal, including Kendall Coyne Schofield and Hayley Scamurra, who each scored her third goal of the tournament.
Canada maintained its perfect attendance in the gold medal game, albeit in less dominant fashion than its American counterparts. Canada squeaked by Switzerland with a 2-1 win Monday, thanks to a pair of goals from captain Marie-Philip Poulin.
The Canadians outscored opponents 21-8 and were 5-0-0-1 in the leadup to the final — the lone loss coming in a 5-0 rout at the hands of the United States. Canada defeated the Swiss 4-0 in their Olympic opener, but found victory harder to come by in the semifinal. A goal from Rahel Enzler at 4:53 of the third period left the Canadians protecting a one-goal lead for the remainder of regulation, despite a gaudy 46-8 shots advantage.
USA is the favorite heading into the final — and it’s not hard to see why. Beyond their utter domination of opponents in these Games, the Americans won their past seven international contests against Canada, dating back to the 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship in Czechia. Yet Canada’s strife can easily be forgotten with a win Thursday, when they face off against Team USA at 1:10 pm Eastern time for the gold medal.
5 takeaways ahead of USA-Canada clash in Olympic final
Clash of styles
You don’t have to look hard to see where these two squads differ.
The United States’ strength comes from their dynamic lineup balance, allowing coach John Wrobleski to roll four forward lines and three defensive pairs with relative ease. That’s thanks in large part to a heavy influx of pro-ready NCAA talent — Caroline Harvey, Laila Edwards, Abbey Murphy, and Joy Dunne to name a few. Harvey, a senior at the University of Wisconsin, leads all Olympic skaters with nine points and a plus-14 rating.
Contrast that with Canada, whose roster does not feature any collegiate talent. Its youngest skater is 24-year-old Jenn Gardiner, already in the midst of her second PWHL season.
Ten different American skaters tallied at least five points in six games. The other nine nations have nine skaters combined; Canada has three.
In a tight semifinal contest against Switzerland, Canadian coach Troy Ryan leaned heavily on his top forward line of Poulin, Sarah Fillier, and Daryl Watts. Fillier paced all forwards with 20:01 TOI, and Poulin accounted for all of Canada’s goal scoring Monday. They’ll likely see similar ice time Thursday with Olympic glory on the line.
Here's the ice-time spread from Canada's 2-1 semifinal win over Switzerland pic.twitter.com/bWiIFNwp7c
— Kyle Cushman (@Kyle_Cush) February 16, 2026
That’s not to say Poulin, Fillier, and Watts — alongside a couple other notable contributors like Julia Gosling and Emily Clark — aren’t capable of keeping Canada’s offense in the game, but it’ll be an uphill battle against an American squad that’s made depth its greatest asset.
No asterisk this time
As Canada readies for another matchup against the Americans, a blowout loss last Tuesday sits fresh in mind. Of course, the Canadians could argue that 5-0 final — the widest margin between Canada and USA at the Olympic level, men’s or women’s — requires an asterisk.
Canada’s lineup did not include Poulin, who missed two games with a lower-body injury after receiving an illegal hit from Czechia’s Kristyna Kaltounkova. As far as impact goes, no player is more crucial to Canada’s success than “Captain Clutch.”
Both teams expect to be healthy for the gold medal game Thursday. No asterisks this time around — just best-on-best hockey.
History has its eyes on you
Poulin etched her name into the history books Monday. After tying Hockey Hall of Famer Hayley Wickenheiser for the all-time Olympic goals lead in Canada’s 5-1 win over Germany on Saturday, Poulin scored twice to cement her status as the all-time Olympic women’s hockey goals leader. Poulin now boasts 20 goals in 26 Olympic games — the first women’s player to break the 20-goal mark.
OLYMPIC GREATNESS 🐐🍁
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 16, 2026
MARIE-PHILIP POULIN IS NOW THE ALL-TIME WOMEN’S #WINTEROLYMPICS GOALS LEADER 👑 pic.twitter.com/gMckasdAvm
Now the attention turns to Team USA captain Hilary Knight.
Knight tallied her 14th career Olympic goal in the opener against Latvia, placing her in a three-way tie with Natalie Darwitz and Kathryn King on the all-time American leaderboard. Knight announced ahead of the 2025-26 PWHL season that this year’s Winter Games would be her last. It’s only fitting that the 36-year-old can cap her historic Olympic career with one last goal for the record books to take sole possession of the USA record.
Poulin and Knight have a history of showing up when the games matter most. In what could be the final Olympic contest for both rival captains, the stage is set for a storybook ending.
All-star goalie battle
The two frontrunners for 2025-26 PWHL Goaltender of the Year go head-to-head in the gold medal game. Montreal Victoire goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens is the first-half favorite with a 9-4-0 record alongside a League-best 1.15 goals against average (GAA) and .954 save percentage. Close behind is Aerin Frankel, who led the Boston Fleet to first overall in the PWHL standings with a 9-2-2 record, 1.35 GAA, and .946 save percentage.
The advantage flipped in Milan-Cortina. Frankel allowed just one goal on 67 shots in five games for the Americans; she leads all Olympic goalies with an absurd 0.25 GAA and .985 save percentage. The 26-year-old anchors an American goalie group that hasn’t allowed a goal in 16 periods, and set an Olympic ice hockey record with an active shutout streak of 331:23.
U.S. women's ice hockey team broke an Olympic record, shutting out opponents for 331 minutes and 23 seconds (and counting) 💪🇺🇸
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) February 16, 2026
(via @AndrewSiciliano) pic.twitter.com/9I2TBWYPHR
Desbiens has a respectable 1.81 GAA and .901 save percentage in four games for Canada, but she’s at the disadvantage against a potent American offense that netted five against her last week. The red-hot Frankel in the opposing net doesn’t leave much room for error, either.
Brace for impact
A 5-0 lead didn’t deter Murphy from crashing into Swedish goalie Emma Soderberg late in the second period Monday. Murphy received a two-minute minor for goalie interference, although it was negated by a retaliation from Sweden defender Jessica Adolfsson.
It’s a prime example of the gritty, sometimes controversial edge that makes Murphy such a nuisance on the ice.
The 23-year-old’s self-embraced comparison to Florida Panthers agitator Brad Marchand is an apt one. Murphy isn’t just a supreme talent and a physical presence on the ice — she’s an elite disruptor who loves to get under the skin of the opponent. That was on display last week, when Murphy drew four of Canada’s five penalties in the lopsided U.S. win.
In a gold medal game against rival Canada, Murphy won’t need much motivation to meet the moment. You can expect a tense, physical game, and Murphy should be right at the center of it.