Team USA didn't just beat Canada in Milan—it changed the tone of the entire women's hockey tournament. In a group-stage matchup that felt like a dress rehearsal for the gold-medal game, the US steamrolled its longtime rival 5–0, scoring less than four minutes in and building a 4–0 cushion before the end of the second period, NBC News reports. The result reinforced a trend: after years of one-goal nail-biters between the two powers, the Americans have now followed up a 24–7 scoring edge in a four-game sweep last fall with another lopsided win. "They're always going to bring it, so can't be cocky," US defender Rory Guilday said. "But we have confidence."
The US and Canada are the only two countries to have won gold since women's hockey became part of the Olympics in 1998. Canada beat the US 3-2 in the final in Beijing in 2022, but the US has now beaten Canada in seven straight games, the AP reports. Tuesday was the first-ever Olympic shutout for the Canadian side, which was without star forward Marie-Philip Poulin. The 34-year-old, nicknamed "Captain Clutch," was injured in Canada's 5-1 win over the Czech Republic on Monday but Canadian coach Troy Ryan is optimistic that she will return before the end of the tournament.
"It didn't look like we had a ton of confidence in our decision-making," Ryan said after Tuesday's game, calling his team "a little bit scattered" and vowing to "pick a few" of the many problem areas to fix. The loss to the US means Canada will finish second in Group A, setting up a quarterfinal against Germany, and there's a good chance the US and Canada will meet again in the final, the CBC reports. The US, which won the four preliminary round games with a combined score of 20-1, will face hosts Italy in the quarterfinals.
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