Team USA dominates women’s hockey rival Canada, shutting out Poulin-less squad to win group

Sports

The Americans, who have outscored and outshot their opponents by huge margins for four games, landed their first regulation Olympic win over the Canadians since 1998 — when they did it twice.

By Matt Porter, The Boston Globe

February 11, 2026 | 8:40 AM

2 minutes to read

MILAN — For the United States women’s hockey team, there is one game at the Olympics that matters.

If they keep playing like this, they will be playing in it. Whether Canada joins them is another matter.

The Americans earned their most lopsided Olympic win over their biggest rival, 5-0, in Tuesday’s preliminaries at Santagiulia Arena, continuing a dominant start to the 2026 Winter Games.

Hannah Bilka scored twice. Caroline Harvey had a goal and two assists, and Abbey Murphy had three assists and drew three penalties. Kirsten Simms and Laila Edwards also scored for Team USA, which beat Canada for the first time at the Olympics since the 2018 gold medal game.

Canada was reeling from the absence of superstar Marie-Philip Poulin, whose right leg injury leaves her availability in doubt. The 35-year-old, playing in her record-tying fifth Games, missed an Olympic contest for the first time since her 2010 debut.

The absence of Captain Canada was a Canadian crisis, but it was not the only factor at play.

The US keeps proving itself as the fastest, most skilled group in women’s hockey. From Harvey’s dancing with the puck to Murphy’s spin-o-rama assist to Bilka’s precise finishing, they are being carried by their young stars. They chased Canadian netminder Ann-Renee Desbiens, who allowed all five goals before ceding the net to Emerance Maschmeyer with seven minutes left.

The Americans, who have outscored (15-1) and outshot (169-66) their opponents by huge margins for four games, landed their first regulation Olympic win over the Canadians since 1998, when they did it twice.

Aerin Frankel made 20 saves and recorded the first shutout of Canada by an American goalie at the Olympics. The Northeastern grad and Boston Fleet ace has given up one goal in her three starts (3-0).

Hilary Knight (assist), whose next goal will set the US women’s record at the Olympics, tied Jenny Potter’s points record with her 32d. She is also playing in her US-record fifth Games.

This was the seventh time in a row the US has beaten Canada, dating back to the World Championships last April. It has outscored them, 35-11, in that run.

In 2002, the Americans took eight in a row from their northern rivals before losing the gold medal game in Salt Lake City.

The US clinched Group A and will play Italy in the quarterfinals. The Italians, who are ranked 17th in the world by the IIHF, finished third in Group B and made the playoffs for the first time. They finished in last place in Turin 2006, their only other appearance at the tournament.

Canada will face Germany, which finished second in Group B after beating Italy on a late goal by Laura Kluge, who plays for the Fleet.

Sweden won Group B, which unlike the men’s tournament is intentionally unbalanced to encourage competition. The five teams in Group A — the US, Canada, Czechia, Finland, and Switzerland — are the top five in the world rankings and automatically advance to the quarterfinals.