A strong start at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games for Canada’s women’s hockey team may have been derailed on Monday.
Despite cruising to a 5-1 win over Czechia in the preliminary round of the tournament on Tuesday, Canada will be thinking more about the status of captain Marie-Philip Poulin after she suffered an injury in the outing.
Poulin exited the game in the first period with an apparent lower-body injury, and though she returned to the bench to end the frame, she was unable to return to the game and was officially ruled out at the start of the third period.
It’s a concerning development for a Canadian team set to face rivals Team USA on Tuesday in a back-to-back.
Less concerning, however, was Canada’s offensive output in the second game of the Olympic tournament. After a slow start against Switzerland in the first game on Saturday, where Canada left the scoring late, the red and white got off to a quick start in this one, netting four of its five goals in the opening frame.
Kristin O’Neill opened the scoring just over five minutes into the game, coralling a Renata Fast rebound on a short-handed break and slotting it past Czech netminder Julie Pejsova.
Then, less than eight minutes later, Sarah Filler scored her second of the Games, and Laura Stacey also found the back of the net in the space of forty seconds.
Julia Gosling capped off the first-period surge with her second goal of the tourney with just over a minute to go in the opening frame. She wasn’t done there, however, as she scored her second of the game 17 seconds into the second period.
Though Czech forward Natalie Mlynkova managed to pull one back in the third — Canada’s first goal against so far in Milan — the damage was done, and Canada moved to 2-0 at the Games.
The decisive win sets Canada up for a crucial game against Team USA on Tuesday, who sit atop Group A with three wins following their 5-0 win over Switzerland on Monday.
