What’s at stake as Canada, Team USA meet in preliminary round

There’s no medal on the line just yet, but there’s still plenty at stake in Tuesday’s preliminary-round women’s hockey matchup between Canada and the United States.

With both teams undefeated in the Olympic tournament at Milano Cortina, this contest will determine who sits atop Group A following round-robin play as the hockey nations prepare for the quarterfinals and beyond. The 3-0 Americans have made quick work of all three of their opponents, opening their campaign with a 5-1 win over Czechia before putting up a pair of 5-0 victories over Finland and Switzerland. 

Canada flew past the Swiss 4-0 on Saturday before beating Czechia 5-1, and will still have one game remaining after Tuesday — a makeup game against Finland after it was rescheduled to Thursday due to illness on the Finnish side. 

With Canada and the U.S. once again on a collision course to meet in the gold-medal final, Tuesday’s game offers both sides of this epic rivalry a chance to get into the ring and size up their opponent before the heavyweight title fight. 

The result of Tuesday’s bout will set the order of the top two seeds in the group. The action itself will give us a hint of what’s to come, and how both sides can best prepare.

Here’s what’s at stake when Canada and the U.S. meet for the first time in Milano Cortina on Tuesday. 

All eyes on Captain Canada’s injury status

Any celebrations after Canada’s 5-1 victory over Czechia on Monday were substantially subdued as captain Marie-Philip Poulin went down with injury. 

While team Canada piled up goals early, all thoughts were on the captain who had hobbled down the tunnel and into the locker room after suffering what appeared to be a lower-body injury midway through the first period. The injury happened when Czechia’s Kristyna Kaltounkova delivered a hard (and illegal) hit on Poulin, sending the captain barrelling into the boards. Poulin was slow to get up, and grimaced as she put weight on her right leg. Shots of her in visible pain on the bench ramped up concerns, and while she did return briefly during the ensuing power play against Kaltounkova, Poulin quickly left again. She didn’t return to the ice after that. 

Canada brass has been quiet about the injury since. It’s hard not to speculate, but it should be done with caution. With Canada cruising to a comfortable win, it’s entirely reasonable to believe the club would’ve kept its captain out, regardless of the severity of her injury to allow for as much treatment and rest as possible. 

Whether or not she is cleared to play Tuesday will offer us some real insight into what’s to come — though, it won’t necessarily tell us everything. Rest and recovery will be crucial here. If Poulin doesn’t dress, it could be a precautionary move to allow her more recovery time before the higher-stakes games of the knockout round. There is also the sobering possibility we’ve seen the iconic captain play her final Olympic game. 

We all know how irreplaceable Poulin is. No single player has as big an impact on her team as Poulin does for Canada. Whether she suits up Tuesday or watches from the press box, the captain’s status vs. Team USA will be a major talking point on Tuesday, and beyond. 

Canada looking to break year-long losing streak

Four years ago, Canada stood atop the podium, but a lot can happen in an Olympic cycle. And in the past year, momentum has sided with United States. 

One year has passed since Canada last defeated Team USA in a best-on-best contest at the senior level. Since that victory, which came during the final game of the 2024-25 Canada-U.S. Rivalry Series, the Americans have won six straight: two at the 2025 World Championship, including the gold-medal showdown, followed by four straight at the 2025 Rivalry Series. Unlike most meetings between these cross-border foes, those four Rivalry Series games delivered incredibly lopsided results. The U.S. toppled Canada by a combined score of 24-7 over those four meetings. 

Old rivalry, new faces

Canada’s roster is relying on veteran expertise to defend the nation’s Olympic title — of the 23 players suiting up for Team Canada at these Games, 16 won gold at Beijing 2022 — and while that depth and experience has been on full display at this tournament, so have the newbies. 

Forward Julia Gosling has three goals in her first two Olympic games, all of which came on the power play. She leads the team in points heading into Tuesday. Fellow rookie Daryl Watts kicked off her first Olympic campaign with a goal and an assist Saturday against Switzerland and added another helper Monday against Czechia to sit third in team scoring. Kristin O’Neill opened the scoring Monday against the Swiss. Rookie defenders Sophie Jaques and Kati Tabin have been really strong on the blue line. Should Poulin not dress Tuesday, Gosling and Watts will be leaned on even more to produce as head coacy Troy Ryan adjusts his lineup.

Team USA’s roster features even more newcomers, pushing the youth surge on the biggest stage with 12 players making their Olympic debuts at Milano Cortina, including seven still competing on the college circuit. Forward Joy Dunne headlines the early success of her team’s rookie class — she sits second in team scoring with two goals and four points in three games.

Canada’s special teams gaining confidence

Among the troubling offensive numbers to emerge from Canda’s four Rivalry Series losses against Team USA was the low power-play output. The series saw Canada go a collective 3-for-13 with the advantage, which is a far cry from what we usually expect from the star-studded club. In a rivalry normally so closely contested, special teams so often prove to be the difference, and it didn’t side with the Canucks in their latest head-to-heads. (Context: By series’ end, power-play scoring didn’t prove to be a massive strong suit for either side — Team USA was a combined 6-for-13 over the first three games, but was blanked on the PP in the final matchup to bring their total to 6-for-17.)

The first two games of this tournament, albeit against easier opponents, have brought a confidence boost for Canada when it comes to special-teams play. Three of its four goals against the Swiss came while playing with the advantage, and two of its five against Czechia were PP markers. The Canadians are 5-for-9 through two games for a tournament-leading 55.56 per cent success rate. Team USA is tied for second, with 30 per cent. The Americans have been flawless on the penalty kill, while Canada allowed one power-play goal Monday against Czechia — the only goal against the Canucks. Whether or not Canada can maintain its special-teams momentum against the U.S. will tell us plenty about the state of its special teams and whether we can expect it to be a difference-maker in this tournament.