USA women’s hockey team says it is “excited” and “ready” as the they prepare to compete for gold on Feb. 19 following a dominant run to the final.
The 2026 Olympic women’s hockey final will be USA vs. Canada Part 7.
The United States and Canada will once again battle for an Olympic gold medal this week at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games. The two hockey powerhouses will now have met in seven of the eight finals in Olympic women’s hockey history, including each of the last five.
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Canada, the reigning gold medalists, has won three of the last four head-to-head Olympic finals against the U.S. and four overall. Team USA won both of its gold medals, in 1998 and 2018, with wins over Canada.
Team USA enters the latest showdown on an utterly dominant run through the competition. The Americans, with a mix of young and veteran talent, are a perfect 6-0 at these Games while outscoring opponents by a staggering 31-1 margin. They have recorded five consecutive shutouts, most recently in a 5-0 semifinal victory over previously unbeaten Sweden.
Team USA boasts five of the top eight point scorers at Milan Cortina, led by breakout defensive star Caroline Harvey. Harvey, a team captain with the NCAA’s Wisconsin Badgers, is the tournament leader in both points (nine) and plus-minus (plus-14). Forward Hannah Bilka, meanwhile, is tied for the most goals (four) and third-most points (seven).
And the Americans have had the Canadians’ number as of late. Team USA entered these Games owning a six-game winning streak against Canada and then rolled past its archrivals 5-0 in the preliminary round. That was the first time Canada had ever been shut out in an Olympic game.
Canada’s lopsided loss to the U.S., which came without captain and all-time Olympic women’s goals leader Marie-Philip Poulin, stands as the five-time Olympic champions’ only defeat at Milan Cortina. They’ve allowed just three combined goals across their five wins.
The Canadians held on for a 2-1 victory over Switzerland in a semifinal where they held a 46-8 advantage in shots on goal. Poulin scored both of Canada’s goals in the win.
The gold medal match will be the final Olympic game in the decorated careers of Poulin and Team USA captain Hilary Knight. And both are set to become five-time medalists.
But will Knight and the U.S. take down Canada once more to secure gold? Or will Poulin and Canada play spoiler and repeat as Olympic champions? Here’s how to watch the Olympic final:
The gold medal game is Thursday, Feb. 19.
The Olympic final starts at 1:10 p.m. ET/12:10 p.m. CT/10:10 a.m. PT.
USA-Canada will air on USA Network.
The game can be streamed on Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.
Watch: USA vs. Canada Women’s Hockey Gold Medal Game