USA, Canada and Olympic Hockey Thursday Group Update, Results Ahead of Women's KO Bracket

The United States women's hockey team's quest for an Olympic gold medal began with a resounding win over Czechia on Thursday.

Hilary Knight and Co. picked up a 5-1 win to open up play in Group A of the 2026 Winter Olympics tournament.

The United States and Canada are the clear favorites to reach the gold medal game, but only the USA got on the ice on Thursday.

Canada's contest with Finland was rescheduled to February 12 due to a virus outbreak among the Finnish team.

Both games in Group B were played. Sweden and Italy each picked up 4-1 victories to begin their runs at an Olympic medal.

Women's Group A

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1 United States (1-0; 3 points)

2. Canada (0-0; 0 points)

3. Finland (0-0; 0 points)

4. Switzerland (0-0; 0 points)

5. Czechia (0-1; 0 points)

Thursday Results

United States 5, Czechia 1

The United States controlled its group opener against Czechia.

The Americans took the lead through Alex Carpenter on a power-play goal late in the first period.

Joy Dunne and Hayley Scamurra opened up the advantage to three goals with a pair of scores within two minutes of each other in the second period.

Hilary Knight finished off the second period with the 13th goal of her Olympic career. Scamurra added to the advantage with her second goal in the third period.

The United States-Czechia game was the only contest that took place in Group A on Thursday. The Finland-Canada game was postponed to February 12 due to a widespread illness in the Finnish team.

Group B

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1 Sweden (1-0; 3 points)

2. Italy (1-0; 3 points)

3. Japan (0-0; 0 points)

4. Germany (0-1; 0 points)

5. France (0-1; 0 points)

Thursday Results

Sweden 4, Germany 1

Italy 4, France 1

Sweden and Italy picked up 4-1 victories on the opening day of play in Group B.

Lina Ljungblom netted a pair of tallies for Sweden to put it in control of the contest against Germany. Ljungblom scored the equalizer and then a go-ahead goal on the power play that turned out to be the game-winning goal.

Mira Jungaker and Thea Johansson also got on the score sheet for the Swedes.

Host nation Italy followed a similar pattern to victory in Thursday's second game. The Italians went down by a goal to France before they scored four in a row to secure the victory.

Kayla Tutino opened the tournament scoring for Italy. She was one of four players to find the back of the net for the home side.

Sweden and Italy are currently tied atop the Group B standings. They play each other on Saturday.

The next Group B game is on Friday between France and Japan.