Women's Olympic Ice Hockey
2026 Winter
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Canada has downed Switzerland in its first hockey game of the women's Olympic tournament at Rho Arena in Milan, Italy.
After the Canadians saw their opener against Finland postponed, they beat the Swiss today thanks to goals from Natalie Spooner, Sarah Fillier, Julia Gosling and Daryl Watts.
Emerance Maschmeyer needed to make just six saves to earn the shutout.
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The Canadians' next game will be Monday against Czech Republic before they meet the U.S. Tuesday in what should be a preview of the gold medal game. They finish the preliminary round Thursday with the rescheduled Finland game.
Switzerland will turn their attention to the Americans in a meeting on Monday.
It took just 27 minutes for Spooner to prove why she deserved a spot on Canada’s Olympic roster. She’s had a slow start to the 2025-26 PWHL season, with three goals in 16 games, but Canada still saw her as a valuable veteran to bring to Milan in a Swiss Army Knife-type role.
Spooner started the game as the 13th forward, a role she accepted with an open mind.
“I am happy to play at 13th forward,” Spooner told The Athletic. “It is my fourth Olympics. Every time I get a chance, I will go out and be an impact player.”
She took several five-on-five shifts on the top line with Poulin and Stacey, and assumed her typical net-front role on the first power play unit. It was in that role Spooner scored her first goal of the tournament after jamming home a rebound in the blue paint.
After Thursday’s game was postponed, the Canadians held a closed practice at Milano Rho Ice hockey Arena to mimic their late start times in the preliminary round. General manager Gina Kingsbury said the practice was closed to give the players 24 hours to decompress after hearing their Olympic debut would be delayed until today.
Ahead of the game, players shrugged off the schedule changes, with Turnbull calling it “just a little bump in the road.”
It helps that Canada has 16 players on the roster who had to wear masks during a preliminary round game against Russia at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing. That game was delayed over an hour due to a COVID-19 test processing. Russian players removed their masks after the first two periods once the tests showed no players were positive. The Canadians kept their masks on and won 6-1.
“I think the girls who were at the COVID Olympics as well, have seen many things like this before,” said Olympic rookie Jennifer Gardiner.
“I think you look at our leader, Marie-Philip Poulin, obviously, she is the way she is because she shows up every single day at her best no matter what. So, I think not letting something like this get in the way of that, and just moving forward with what we do have is going to be really important for us.”
Saskia Maurer, thrust into action for the second game in a row, can hold her head high. Switzerland was outshot 30-3 after two periods, yet the only goal Maurer had allowed was Spooner’s tally off Poulin’s rebound.
Canada peppered her persistently, yet she turned virtually everything aside, from deflections, shots through traffic, point-blank chances and shots off the rush.
Maurer is the only reason this was not a bigger rout, although there was only so much she could take as she allowed three in the third. Maurer finished with 51 saves.
The Canadians have improved to 6-0 against the Swiss at the Olympics, outscoring them 44-6 in those games. Overall, since 1997, Canada is 22-0 against Switzerland.
Renata Fast led Canada in total ice time tonight with 23:40. She tallied an assist for Canada in its 4-0 win over Switzerland.
Second behind Fast was Sarah Fillier, generating 22:36 of total ice time. Fillier had one goal and one assists, recording a +1 in the victory.
Huge performances from these two players, who look to build on this as the tournament progresses.
The U.S. and Canada women's hockey teams generated a ton of shots on goal in both of their respective games. They combined for 99 total shots on goal.
Absolutely wild.
Below are the full results of today’s women's hockey games at the Milan Cortina Games:
Unsurprisingly, all signs point to the USA-Canada clash on Tuesday as the big game that will decide the winner of this group.
Below are the final stats from Canada versus Switzerland:
Shots on goal
Saves
Power play
Penalty minutes
Faceoffs
At the Winter Olympics, players from both teams shake hands at center ice after each game.
Then they tap their sticks on the ice and wave to the crowd. It gives the fans a chance to cheer on their respective countries as the players exit the ice.
A nice touch.
A strong performance by the Canadians tonight. They wore the Swiss down with a lot of pressure, finishing with 55 shots on net and allowing only six. Saskia Maurer did everything in her power to keep the puck out of the net, but it was just too much.
1-0 in preliminary play for the Canadians.
P3 0:00 – Canada 4, Switzerland 0
Canada takes its first round-robin game over Switzerland. Despite the extra two days of waiting before the first game, the Canadians had a solid showing. Switzerland’s Saskia Maurer was dynamite in net, preventing a larger win for Canada.
Natalie Spooner, Sarah Fillier, Julia Gosling and Daryl Watts scored Canada‘s goals.
A great start to the Olympic gold medal defense for the Canadians.
P3 1:24 – Canada 4, Switzerland 0
Canada has 50 shots in this game. Yes, you are reading that right. Fifty!
P3 3:16 – Canada 4, Switzerland 0
Make that FOUR for Canada! Sarah Nurse skates around the offensive zone before passing to Daryl Watts, who fires a wrist shot through traffic that beats Saskia Maurer.
Not long now until a Canadian victory.
P3 4:52 – Canada 3, Switzerland 0
The public address announcer corrects the record to say that Julia Gosling actually scored Canada’s third goal and not Brianne Jenner. It was difficult to decipher who scored that power-play goal from that shot through traffic.
Spooner, Fillier and Gosling have the Canadian goals today.
Welp, there it is.
Maurer has done everything possible, including a great stop on Natalie Spooner, but a tipped shot makes it behind her as she's caught a bit deep in her crease.
P3 6:24 – Canada 3, Switzerland 0
A shot from the point that goes through traffic. Brianne Jenner just gets her stick on it to deflect the puck and it goes through Saskia Maurer’s pads into the net.
It is Canada’s third power-play goal of the game. Almost six minutes to go until a Canadian victory.
P3 7:08 – Canada 2, Switzerland 0
Oh my WORD! Natalie Spooner was on the doorstep to score her second goal. Denied by Saskia Maurer.
Then, a Darryl Watts shot from the slot goes right into Maurer’s glove. Still a two-goal lead for Canada.
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