USA roar back from brink to beat Canada in overtime and claim Olympic women’s ice hockey gold | Winter Olympics 2026

Rescued from the brink of defeat by a deft touch from their captain in her final Olympics, the US beat Canada in Milan on Thursday to claim the women’s ice hockey gold medal.

Hilary Knight got engaged this week to the American speed skater, Brittany Bowe, and the 36-year-old now has another reason to celebrate. Out-fought and out-thought by their great rivals for much of this contest, the Americans were poised to lose to a team they had thumped 5-0 in the preliminary round only nine days earlier.

“She’s the leader of our group, the heartbeat,” Megan Keller said of her captain after the game. “We don’t get here without her. I can’t say enough great things about her, and to cap off her Olympic career in this fashion, just so happy for her.”

Yet with barely two minutes left on the clock, Knight tipped a long-range shot from Laila Edwards past Ann-Renée Desbiens, the doughty Canadian goaltender, to level the score at 1-1 and send the final into overtime. It was Knight’s 15th Olympic goal, the most for an American woman in history, and it hurled the match into a berserk three-on-three period that was settled by a game-winner from Keller that sparked joy and despair inside the arena in equal measure.

Odd as it sounds when discussing the most successful nation in Olympic women’s ice hockey history – a country that has appeared in all eight finals – a Canadian victory would have been a notable upset for a squad that has been outclassed by its biggest adversary of late.

That 5-0 defeat to the US last week was not only Canada’s worst-ever Olympic loss but the first time they had failed to score in a match at the Winter Games. Canada’s lack of strength in depth during the tournament had stood in contrast with the Americans, who profited from important contributions from each forward line. John Wroblewski’s side outscored opponents 31-1 and found the net at least five times in all six of their prior matches in Italy.

The defence wasn’t bad either. Before this game the US had last conceded a goal in their first fixture of these Olympics, a 5-1 victory over Czechia on 5 February. That was the day before the opening ceremony.

In the broader context, though, Canada won five of the previous seven finals – including a 3-2 triumph over the Americans in Beijing in 2022 – with the US claiming the other two, in 1998 and 2018. And optimists north of the border might have argued that they were due a win against their old foes, having lost their past seven fixtures against the US – a streak of struggles dating back to the women’s world championship last April.

Canada upped their level when it mattered most. They adjusted tactically, defended robustly, fashioned good opportunities and were no doubt inspired by the example set by Marie-Philip Poulin, their talismanic 34-year-old captain. In her fifth Olympics, Poulin missed two group stage games with a knee injury but scored twice in the 2-1 win over Switzerland in the semi-finals, breaking the women’s all-time Olympic record with her 20th goal.

The US had a much easier time of it in the last four against Sweden, reaching the gold medal game with a 5-0 victory. (Switzerland beat Sweden 2-1 in overtime earlier on Thursday to win bronze.)

But the lack of challenge up to this point appeared to be a disadvantage when adversity struck; and perhaps the Americans, less experienced than their opponents, struggled to handle the magnitude of the occasion.

The US scored their first against Canada inside four minutes last week, but this was different.

Canada out-shot their opponents by six to eight in the opening period, though neither team could find a breakthrough, with the Americans resolutely fending off two power plays – first they had too many players on the ice, then Joy Dunne was penalized for a trip.

Canada struck only 54 seconds into the second period with a terrific short-handed goal by Kristin O’Neill, feinting to deceive goalkeeper Aerin Frankel and score from close range after a pass from Laura Stacey. The US were in arrears for the first time in the tournament.

Then came promising chances at both ends, with Desbiens called into action and Frankel making a sharp, scampering save to deny Sarah Fillier when she looked set to double the lead. But with Canada resolute and confident, and the US lacking inspiration unless Caroline Harvey had the puck, it remained 1-0 after the second period.

The Americans ratcheted up the pressure as the contest reached its climax, and Canada’s Erin Ambrose briefly went off injured after being shoved into the boards by Britta Curl-Salemme. It threatened to be a desperately disappointing night for the Americans that recalled the 2002 final, when Canada ended an eight-game losing streak against the US with a 3-2 win in the gold medal game in Salt Lake City.

But a slight deflection from Knight in front of the net, with Frankel pulled off the ice, saved her team.

Then came Keller, cutting inside and unleashing a shot from close in that dribbled past Desbiens to ensure Knight’s Olympic career ended in triumph. Wroblewski was moved to tears, and he wasn’t the only one.

It was compelling drama – and with the US facing Slovakia and Canada meeting Finland in the men’s semi-finals on Friday, there may be another cross-border clash to come.