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Feb 20, 2026
Claire Watkins
Team USA got it done on Thursday, becoming the 2026 Olympic women’s hockey champions with a comeback 2-1 overtime win over rival Canada.
Canada’s Kristen O’Neill opened the scoring early in the second period, with her 1-0 lead holding until just outside the final two minutes of regulation time.
USA captain Hilary Knight then registered the equalizer — becoming the nation’s top scorer in Olympic history — before Megan Keller slotted in the game-winner four minutes in to sudden-death overtime.
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Though either Canada or the US has earned every one of the sport’s eight Olympic titles, Thursday’s gold is the third for Team USA, who topped the inaugural podium at the 1998 Nagano Games before snapping a 20-year drought with a second gold in PyeongChang.
USA Hockey’s 2026 campaign will go down as one of the most dominant Olympic runs on record, with the US tallying a 33-2 goal differential — including five shutouts — through their seven matches in Milan.
“I’ve been on some great teams, with a lot of great teammates, great players, Hall-of-Famers,” US veteran Kendall Coyne Schofield said. “But this one is special.”
The USA’s stacked roster ultimately claimed four of the Top-5 spots on the Olympic stat sheet, where Keller and University of Wisconsin star Caroline Harvey each posted a tournament-leading nine points — a run that saw Harvey also honored as the 2026 Games’ MVP.
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As for 36-year-old Knight, the USA hockey legend wraps her final Olympics with a Hollywood ending, capping an historic international career with an engagement and a gold medal.
“It’s been an incredible ride,” she said on Thursday. “I have to soak this all in because this room is just so special, this team is so special. This is the best US hockey team I’ve ever been a part of. That is just so tremendous.”
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