Feb 20, 2026
3 min read
Team USA defeated Canada in the women's hockey gold medal game at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
MILAN – In its first six games at this Winter Olympics, the U.S. women's hockey team is undefeated and unbeaten.
Yet in the first 58 minutes of Thursday's gold-medal game, it looked hapless - unable to score and lead to a dramatic upset against its host, Canada.
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Nine days later, the United States eliminated Canada's defense by five goals in the group stage, and Canada's defense became a stronger team, holding off the most unexpected attack of the Olympics in Milan Cortina.
Then Hilary Knight, the U.S. captain competing in her fifth and final Olympics, skated in front of Canada's goal with two minutes left in regulation.Knight deflected a shot from teammate Laila Edwards into the Canadian goal and knocked the puck between her legs, sending the final into sudden-death overtime and giving the Americans some new life.
In three minutes of overtime, American Megan Keller pushed Canadian goalkeeper Ann-Renée Desbiens to complete a 2-1 victory for the US that added another goal in the history of the two powers of women's hockey, the only two countries to win Olympic gold medals in their first Olympic game in 1998.
"Just epic," Knight said."I don't really have the words to describe it, but I'm very happy that we've been able to be the way we've been.
"We're chasing a game against a fantastic team, legends, on the other side of the ice. For us to find the back of the net the way we did, and for Meg to do her thing with the dance, you can't write a better script."
It was the USA's third gold medal in women's hockey — and first since 2018. The United States is now 5-7 all-time against Canada in the Olympics, including 3-4 in gold medal games.
Clinging for dear life just 20 minutes earlier, the US somehow revived itself to claim a gold medal crown that had been in the balance for most of the night.American players poured onto the ice after Keller's goal, turning the ice into an impressionistic painting of blue dots, waving arms, flying sticks and helmets.
Inside the mosh pit, "Lots of hugs, lots of 'let's go!'Smile a lot,” Keller said."This is the time you dream and work for all your life."
Losing the lead so quickly and playing with it was "bad," Canadian forward Laura Stacey said.
America entered Thursday after winning seven consecutive games against their opponents, and the most recent match, nine days earlier, was a 5-0 loss.They have outscored their opponents by 30 goals in this Olympics and had five consecutive shutouts.
Unlike the previous Olympics, long training camps were not possible for the United States or Canada before Milan because they were busy playing professional hockey for three years. Forcing a quick fix, nations turned to their new experience last fall when they played four "game series" that were attacked by the United States.
The U.S. roster is filled with players who have captained teams at various levels, from Knight, 36, of the PWHL's Seattle Torrent to Caroline Harvey, 23, who captained the University of Wisconsin this season.
Team USA head coach John Wroblewski was less concerned about how his players found the net, saying that before the Olympics he "challenged the players to come to Milan as if they were playing an individual sport."I'm sure the team part will work itself out."
However, if the USA felt it started to enter the tournament, it still had to play in Milan one more time.He did more than that, winning his first six games while getting 30 goals from 15 different players.Defensively, the USA has not allowed a goal in its last five games to exceed the Olympic record of 331 minutes, 23 seconds.
Hitting 254 shots to 95, the U.S. isn't winning as much as it is losing, making it all the more interesting that the U.S. spent most of the opening 20 minutes of the first half Thursday playing defense in its own end, 8-6.
Taylor Hayes, the American player, predicted days before the gold medal game that their group game against Canada earlier in the tournament would not go beyond Thursday's results.That instinct was right.Canada didn't seem like a team that acknowledged the confidence issues after losing to the USA on Feb.10.
Aggressive and fast, Canada sets the pace of the game.The most important example was in the first minute of the second quarter, when a U.S. power play resulted in Canada's Laura Stacey having a breakaway opportunity despite having a player, she passed to Kristin O'Neill just before the goal, and goalie Aerin Frankel slipped and did not have time to stop Canada's breakaway to make it 1-0.
The rapid-fire sequence was a chink in the Americans' armor, the first goal the USA had scored in 352 minutes and the first time they had lost at these Olympics.It also sent the canadian red sweater crowd into a frenzy.
As America's deficit was settled, the stark contrast to how the game unfolded compared to the recent one-sided nature of the rivalry evoked echoes of the 2002 Winter Olympics.The United States entered the gold medal game at those Olympics, beating Canada eight times in a row, only to lose to Canada with the gold medal down the stretch.
On Thursday, when the USA led Canada in shots with 10 minutes left in the final period, they didn't look clean, their best chances mostly coming after the Canadian defense beat key players like Caroline Harvey, Hannah Bilka and Megan Keller.
Canada is focused on "being frustrated," coach Troy Ryan said.
"They didn't have enough space to make the plays they usually make," said Canadian star Marie-Philippe Poulin, who scored the game-winning goal in the 2010, 2014 and 2022 gold medal games.
The scoreboard hanging over the center ice played a close-up video of the gold medal the winner will receive.To find them, the United States had to score in the last 10 minutes and beat its longest goal of the match.It was even more tense from the outside when a penalty kick knocked the American player down by two minutes with just six minutes left in control.
But U.S. players said they remained steadfast in their belief that the U.S. was slowly chipping away at Canadian control.
“The second period, when we started building shifts, we knew it was coming,” Joy Dunn said."We were too good and believed in each other. When one came, we knew it was our game."
The United States takes that belief to the extreme. Edwards set the stage for Knight, just days away from proposing to her longtime girlfriend, American figure skater Brittany Bowe, who changed direction with a flick of her stick.
"When the puck went in, I think our whole bench knew it was our game," American forward Britta Curl said.
Between the third period and overtime, the teams came off the ice to endure an 18-minute break.In the American locker room, Knight talked about how to play in overtime, with each team losing a player, making it three on three.But Knight didn't stop at technical tips.
"Who will be the hero?"he remembered telling his friends."The hero is in this room."
The pop song "Party in USA" rang out throughout the arena as the two nations lined up to receive their medals.It was the gold standard for Knight's Olympic career, with her goals making her the all-time leading scorer in US Women's Olympic history with 15 goals.
“It's been an incredible ride,” he said.
Best week of your life?
"I say so," Knight said.
