It seems like every time Canada and the United States meet on the Olympic women’s hockey stage, they produce a memorable matchup. But Tuesday’s lopsided affair was one Team Canada would surely soon like to forget.
Only, they can’t afford to. A loss like this one will require plenty of studying and more than a few adjustments to have any hope of producing a different outcome next time.
Next time, of course, it’s expected there will be a gold medal on the line. Canada and the United States are once again the heavy favourites to meet in the final at Milano Cortina, and Tuesday’s outcome doesn’t change that. But it does spell trouble for Canada’s hopes of defending their gold from four years ago, because the team in red and white was outplayed at every position in this one, and it wasn’t particularly close.
The 5-0 loss to their rivals south of the border marks the largest-ever margin of victory in an American win over Team Canada, and the first time Canada has been shut out in an Olympic game. It’s also Canada’s seventh straight loss to Team USA in best-on-best competition, dating back a year to last season’s Rivalry Series and including the 2025 world championship. This is no blip.
Canada was outshot 33-20. Starting netminder Ann-Renee Desbiens, who entered Tuesday’s game undefeated at the Olympics, faced 27 of those shots and stopped 22 to break her winning streak. Backup Emerance Maschmeyer stopped all six she faced after getting into the game late in the third.
The loss of captain Marie-Philip Poulin on Monday against Czechia, and her absence against the U.S. due to a lower-body injury the team says is day-to-day, certainly showed. But it was far from the only contributing factor in Canada’s defeat.
-
-
Keep up with Olympic women’s hockey
Canada is going for a second Olympic gold in a row in women’s hockey. Follow along on Sportsnet.ca
Too many mistakes prove costly for Canada
It didn’t help that, in addition to taking on a truly elite group of goal-scorers on Team USA, Team Canada was also battling itself. A lack of structure in their own zone — uncharacteristic of this defensively sound squad — and an inability to muster up much momentum up front plagued Canada pretty consistently.
Their typical attention to detail wasn’t there, either. Too many offsides, including one on a power-play rush, halted any attempt at a momentum swing in its tracks. Unnecessary icings kept the puck in Canada’s zone. Rinse and repeat.
Discipline was an issue, too. Credit to U.S. forward Abbey Murphy, who clearly revels in getting under the skin of her opponents and did so against Canada, drawing multiple penalties (and, yes, showing a little flair for the dramatic in the process). Canada didn’t have a response. They took five minor penalties, and while they successfully killed off four, those are the kinds of hurdles they need to avoid against a squad as dangerous as the Americans.
Young guns propel USA to statement win
While Canada took a more veteran-heavy approach when building its Olympic roster, the United States’ entry in this tournament features a healthy dose of youth. Twelve of their 23 players are making their Olympic debut for Team USA. But what makes this American roster so special is the fact that even the club’s young guns bring enough international experience to the Olympic stage that they’re playing like seasoned veterans.
Perhaps no player better represents that balance of youth and experience than U.S. defender Caroline Harvey. At just 23 years old and still starring on the college circuit, she’s a big part of the U.S. Women’s National Team’s youth surge. But after debuting at the Beijing 2022 Games, she also brings valuable Olympic experience — and it’s shown so far in Milano Cortina. Against the Canadians on Tuesday, she was absolutely sensational, showing off her smooth skating, elite puck-moving and jumping into the offensive fray early and often.
Harvey opened the scoring less than four minutes into the matchup with a beautiful curl-and-drag setup before sending a wrist shot through traffic and just under the left pad of Desbiens.
Later in the first frame, Harvey was the driving force behind the Americans’ second goal, too. The defender flew through the neutral zone to launch her squad into the Canadians’ end, where forward Abbey Murphy dished a perfect no-look pass from the end board to a ready-to-strike Hannah Bilka, who buried the puck to make it 2-0. Harvey assisted on Bilka’s second-period goal, too, for a three-point night.
All four of Team USA’s goal-scorers on Tuesday (Bilka scored twice, with Laila Edwards and Kirsten Simms joining Harvey with one each) are aged 24 or younger. Like Harvey, Edwards (aged 22) and Simms (21) haven’t yet reached the pros.
The future of the U.S. women’s program isn’t just bright — it’s already here.
