PWHL
Team USA and Canada will meet for the seventh time in an Olympics gold-medal game.
Aerin Frankel hasn’t wavered in net for Team USA during the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano-Cortina.
The Fleet goaltender has been nearly flawless overseas — giving up just one goal off of 68 total shots through her first four games.
And she’ll need to be at her best again on Thursday as this Team USA squad aims to solidify its standing as one of the greatest teams ever assembled.
The only thing standing in the Americans’ way? A familiar foe in Team Canada.
For the seventh time in eight Olympic tournaments since women’s hockey debuted in 1998, the two hockey superpowers will clash on the frozen sheet Thursday. Puck drop is set for 1:10 p.m. EST.
“If we get the job done [Thursday] night, I think that statement holds true,” Kendall Coyne Schofield told the Associated Press about this U.S. team potentially being one of the best women’s hockey teams ever put together.
Historically, Canada has had the upper hand in bouts against Team USA with Olympic hardware on the line. Of those seven goal-medal meetings, Canada has won five of them, with the Americans emerging victorious in 1998 and 2018.
In Olympic and world championship action, Canada holds a 25-24 record against Team USA — but the Americans have outscored their North-American neighbor, 138-135, over that decades-long stretch.
Granted, this ‘26 Team USA squad has shifted those results squarely in their favor over the past year.
During the 2025 Rivalry Series between the two nations, Team USA won all four games against Canada, outscoring them 24-7. In their earlier meeting during Olympic play, the Americans left the ice against Canada with a 5-0 victory.
It was the first time the Canadians have ever been shut out in Olympic action.
That trouncing during group play was par for the course for the Americans during this international tournament.
Over the last five games in Milan, the Americans have outscored opponents, 31-1, and currently hold a 254-95 edge in shots on goal during that stretch.
Frankel has played a key role in Team USA’s suffocating performance on the ice. Along with sporting a .985 save percentage through four games, the Fleet goalie became the first player in Olympic women’s hockey to post three shutouts in a single Olympic tournament.
Frankel and fellow netminder Gwyneth Philips have kept the puck out of the net for the last 331:23 of ice time, already surpassing the previous Olympic shutout record by 86 minutes and 23 seconds.
“I want it so much. I want it more than anything I’ve ever wanted in my life. The whole team feels the same way. This has been our end goal, and we’re one step from that,” Frankel said on Monday, per Daily Faceoff’s Ben Steiner. “Anytime I put on the jersey, I just feel so lucky to be part of this group. There is so much talent in our locker room. It’s just so much fun to play with the best players in the world.”
It hasn’t just been stellar goaltending that has Team USA holding court as a gold-medal favorite.
In total, 15 different players on Team USA have lit the lamp during Olympic action.
The Americans have rallied around former Fleet captain Hilary Knight, who announced that the ‘26 Olympics would be the final of her standout career. But, a trio of Olympic rookies in Hannah Bilka, Taylor Heise, and Abbey Murphy have arguably been Team USA’s most dynamic line.
Team USA’s blue line has also been a key conductor on offense, featuring a pair of Fleet blueliners in Megan Keller and rookie Haley Winn.
Keller — the current Fleet captain — has scored two goals and seven total points during Olympic play, while Boston’s 2025 first-round pick in Winn (No. 2 overall) has scored a goal and added four points with a plus-11 rating.
Despite Team USA’s recent dominance, they’re expecting another tough test from Canada, which will have captain Marie-Philip Poulin back on the ice after she missed that group-play matchup against the U.S. with a right knee injury.
Poulin — who has scored in all four gold-medal games that she’s appeared in with Canada — scored both of her team’s goals in a 2-1 win over Switzerland in the semifinal round.
“It’s a one-game showdown and there are many different aspects of those seven games,” Canada head coach Troy Ryan told Matt Porter of The Boston Globe. “In our room and as our group, we know we’d like to play better in those seven games, [but] I don’t think they’re going to impact the gold medal a bit.”
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