Youth Leads USA to Dominant 5-0 Victory Over Archrival Canada

Heading into the 2026 Olympics, a lot was said about Team USA’s youth movement vs Team Canada’s veteran group. Namely, the Canadian staff was heavily criticized for refusing to incorporate fresher faces into their lineup for the Olympics despite a five-game losing streak to Team USA, among plenty of other struggles over the past few years when the U.S. has its collegiate players rostered. 

That criticism will only grow louder after today’s preliminary matchup between the two women’s hockey powerhouses.

From the first puck drop to the final buzzer, Team USA outclassed Canada en route to a 5-0 win in Milan. USA’s youth led the way, with all five goal scorers under the age of 25, as Canada, who was without captain Marie-Philip Poulin after she was injured in yesterday’s game against Czechia, struggled to come up with answers for the team’s speed and relentless attack.

Headlining the night for Team USA were 23-year-old collegiate players Abbey Murphy, who had three assists and four drawn penalties, and Caroline Harvey, who notched a goal and two assists. 24-year-old Seattle Torrent forward and Olympic rookie Hannah Bilka also made her presence felt, scoring twice, with both goals assisted by Murphy and Harvey.

Harvey wasted little time getting USA on the board, taking a Haley Winn feed and sailing it past Ann-Renée Desbiens–who was starting back-to-back games after facing Czechia yesterday–just 3:45 into the game. Hilary Knight picked up the secondary assist on the goal, marking the lone point from a player over the age 0f 25 in the game.

As the opening frame wound down, Murphy showcased her speed to win a puck battle with Canada’s Claire Thompson. She then sent a behind-the-back feed to a streaking Bilka in front of the net, who didn’t miss the chance to make it 2-0 USA.

The second period started with plenty of controversy. Just 58 seconds into the period, Sarah Fillier interfered with Murphy in the neutral zone, and after a lengthy video review, she headed to the box for two minutes. Just 22 seconds later, Kirsten Simms knocked the puck home on the power play, but the play underwent two video reviews–first for whether the puck crossed the line, and then for a coach’s challenge from Canada concerning goaltender interference–before ultimately being ruled a good goal.

The scoring quieted down for the next several minutes, but the U.S. continued to control the pace of play. Their pressure paid off again 13 minutes into the period, when Murphy connected with Bilka for the second time.

Finally, Laila Edwards made history in the third period, becoming the first Black woman to score for Team USA at the Olympics with a snipe past Desbiens at 11:53 of the final frame. That spelled the end of the night for Desbiens, with Emerance Maschmeyer taking over in relief.

In goal, Aerin Frankel stopped all 20 shots she faced for her second Olympic shutout, while Desbiens turned aside 22 shots before being pulled for Maschmeyer, who stopped all six shots she saw. 

The Americans’ 5-0 victory marks the largest U.S. margin of victory over Canada in men’s or women’s Olympic hockey history. It was also the third straight shutout game for Team USA, who outscored their opponents 20-1 in the preliminary round.

Team USA now heads into a quarterfinal matchup with Italy, with the time and date to be announced in the coming days. Meanwhile, Canada will face Finland in their final preliminary game on Thursday after the game was postponed at the beginning of the tournament due to a norovirus outbreak among Team Finland.

The Rest of the Day 6's Games

Six other nations were in action today, with five of them wrapping up their preliminary round schedules.

Japan 0, Sweden 4

Sweden and Japan faced off in the day’s first game, with the Swedes pulling off a decisive 4-0 shutout win to stay perfect in the preliminary round while ending Japan’s tournament. 

Hanna Thuvik kicked off the scoring just 5:25 into the game, with Josefin Bouveng adding an insurance goal 5:36 into the middle frame. Mira Hallin then got in on the scoring fun with 2:30 to go in the second, before Hanna Olsson capped off the scoring just 1:06 into the third period.

In goal, Ebba Traff Svensson turned aside all 20 shots she faced for her first Olympic shutout, while Riko Kawaguchi stopped 22 of the 26 shots she faced before Rei Halloran turned aside all five shots she faced after taking over the net with 14:18 remaining.

Italy 1, Germany 2

Germany and Italy then fought for the second Group B seed in a tightly-matched affair. Both nations got into some penalty trouble, with the Germans taking four penalties to the Italian’s five, but neither could make their advantages count, leaving the scoring to just a quick burst in the second period and a late game-winner. 

Italy’s Justine Reyes kicked off the scoring with her first Olympic goal just 21 seconds into the second period.

However, Germany didn’t take long to respond, with Emily Nix sending her second of the tournament home just 2:26 later.

Laura Kluge then capped off the scoring with a late goal, putting Germany in the lead with just 1:29 remaining in the game.

In goal, Sandra Abstreiter turned aside 23 shots to secure the win, while Gabriella Durante stopped 22 in the loss.

Finland 3, Switzerland 1

Last but not least, Finland and Switzerland faced off, with the Swiss aiming to move into a top-three Group A seed while the Finns searched for their first win of the tournament.

Viivi Vainikka opened the scoring for Finland with a power play goal at 3:33 of the second period.

Later, Julia Liikala scored just 26 seconds after a Swiss penalty expired to make it 2-0 Finland at 9:50 of the second period.

Alina Müller then got Switzerland on the board with a shorthanded goal 30 seconds into a Finnish second-period power play. However, Finland quickly responded, with Sanni Vanhanen scoring on the power play just 35 seconds later, giving the Finns a 3-1 lead at 17:35 of the second period and capping off the scoring.

In goal, Sanni Ahola turned aside 14 shots to secure the win, while Saskia Maurer stopped 28 in the loss.

Next Up

Every women’s hockey team gets the day off tomorrow. Action will resume on February 12 with the rescheduled Finland-Canada preliminary matchup (2:30 p.m. local, 8:30 a.m. ET), before the knockout rounds kick off on February 13. So far, the U.S. has secured the number one seed, while Switzerland, Sweden, Germany, and Italy are settled in seeds 5, 6, 7, and 8, respectively.