2026 Winter Olympics Women's Hockey Results, Live Highlights and Analysis for USA vs. Canada

The seventh gold-medal game between Canada and the United States was finally Team USA's to lose. Team Canada had been the most dominant force since women's hockey officially entered the Olympics in 1998, but recently Team USA had been doing the winning. 

Team USA won all four games against Canada leading up to these Olympics, then beat Team Canada 5-0 in the Olympic preliminary round last week.

This game wasn't looking like that fate would continue for the favorites—until Hilary Knight stepped in.

Team Canada held a 1-0 edge since a shorthanded goal early in the second, but with just over two minutes left in the game, captain Knight sent her team to overtime with her final Olympic goal. It also broke the USA women's record for goals and points. 

Veteran defender Megan Keller got it done for Team USA early in overtime.

The U.S., a team full of younger players, won gold 2-1 in overtime on the backs of its veterans. The win cements its status as the top dog in international play in an epic contest.

Take a look at our takeaways from Thursday's contest and look back at the highlights from one of the best games you'll ever see.

Final Takeaways From Gold-Medal Game

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Hilary Knight Going Out as GOAT?

If this was the end for Hilary Knight, what a way to go out.

The American legend had one final gold medal on the line and the opportunity to break two USA Olympic women's records. She was one point away from breaking Jenny Potter's points record and one goal shy of breaking Natalie Darwitz's goal record heading into the game

Leave it to Knight, known for her goal in Team USA's 2018 gold medal win, to accomplish this feat in the biggest moment possible.

With 2:04 remaining in regulation, Knight's net-front goal tied the game 1-1 to force overtime, gave her the USA women's points record with 33, and gave her the USA women's goals record with 15.

Throughout her career, the Team USA captain has shown the ability to transcend and make things happen, no matter how big the moment. Her last Olympic game was the perfect end to an illustrious career. The full-team win was a cherry on top that she deserved.

Fantastic Advertisement for Women's Hockey

For the third time in the last four meetings between the USA and Canada in the gold-medal game, it went into overtime.

There have been so many unforgettable moments throughout this rivalry that you're always wondering how the next game could possibly top the others.

And then it somehow does. One of the women's hockey greats going out with the late-game equalizer that eventually led to her team winning will do that. So will two ridiculously good performances from goaltenders Frankel and Desbiens.

If you enjoyed the goaltending duel, you can catch Frankel in net for the PWHL's Boston Fleet, where she's been shining all year. Debiens has been holding it down for the Montreal Victoire.

Knight may be done with the Olympics, but the 36-year-old is still going strong on the brand-new Seattle Torrent.

Women's hockey is at its best, and the talent has produced a great product as the PWHL enters its third year.

If you enjoyed the skill level and finesse during this Olympic run, your women's hockey fix doesn't have to stop here. These athletes are crushing it in the PW every night.

An Upset for the Ages Avoided

Despite Team USA's 5-0 thrashing of Team Canada in the prelims, no one expected this game to be a walk in the park for the Americans. Still, it felt like the USA's time to really turn the tide and complete an epic run of international play.

Team USA won all four games against Canada leading up to these Olympics, then easily handled Canada in the preliminary round. There has never been more hype or momentum behind Team USA as a favorite in this storied rivalry, but Canada pulled off a stunning upset by scoring just one goal.

Both teams knew this game would be close. Through most of the regulation, Canada made fewer mistakes, capitalized on more of the USA's mistakes, and appeared to play with more urgency.

Team USA managed to stay calm and gained more composure as the third period went on until a brutal hit from Britta Curl threatened to throw all of that away. Team USA survived another penalty kill anyway. Head coach John Wroblewski made the astute decision to pull Frankel early, and the veterans took over from there.

Not only did Knight score the equalizer, but longtime USA defender Megan Keller also had the composure in overtime that led to the eventual win.

It bears repeating that this game could have gone either way, as things often do in this rivalry. There's been much talk about Team USA's youth movement, but when the team as a whole looked uncharacteristically discombobulated throughout this game, the veterans stepped up.

Game Highlights From USA vs. Canada

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Overtime

The United States wins gold! Megan Keller scores the game-winning goal in overtime.

Third Period

Goal for the USA! The game is tied at 1-1 after Hilary Knight's deflection goal at 17:56 of the third period.

Second Period

Goal for Canada! Kristin O'Neill opens the scoring with a shorthanded strike 54 seconds into the second period.

Pre-Game

Starting lineup for the United States.

Takeaways From the Second Period

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Canada Nets All-Important First Goal, Shows Underdog Desperation

Here's where exhaustion from prior penalty trouble will get you: when you think you're safe on your own power play.

Team USA seemed to think it was safe to take a breather, opening the second period on its own power play. Canada stole the puck, sped up the ice on an odd-man rush, and first-time Olympian Kristin O'Neill made it count for a 1-0 lead less than two minutes into the second.

You can't overstate how important the first goal of the game was for this underdog Canadian team. Not only does it break Frankel's shutout streak against the team, but it also shows Canada isn't just going to roll over and cower in the face of Team USA's recent dominance. Plus, gold-medal games between these two teams typically produce so few goals: The winning team has never scored more than three. Each goal could be the game-winner.

Frankel is such an elite goaltender; catching her off guard on an odd-man rush is going to be one of the few golden opportunities to get past her. A shorthanded Canada clearly realized that and took full advantage of a rare opportunity to throw Frankel off.

It's exactly how this Canada team needs to play to win, and since the goal, the breakaways and energy keep coming for Canada. 

Sloppiness Could Prove Lethal for Team USA

Two periods in, and this sure doesn't look like the Team USA we were watching leading up to the gold-medal game. Its sloppiness started with those two penalties in the first period, but the uncharacteristic style of play has now bled into all aspects of the game. 

There's been a lack of sustained pressure on offense, and there've been too many miscommunications all over the ice, especially a few brutal mistakes in their own zone, which have led to great looks for Team Canada. Frankel came up huge all period to keep it a 1-0 game, but the mistakes of the skaters in front of her cannot persist. 

Team USA needs to make a convincing push on offense if it's to get back in this game, but the second period was more of the team just surviving on defense despite its own mistakes. 

We need to give credit to Team Canada for stifling Team USA and pouncing on every error, but Team USA is making far too many mistakes if it wants to win gold.

A Goalie Duel

With all the deserved talk about Frankel in net, Ann-Renée Desbiens had only ever lost one Olympic game leading up to today.

This game hasn't been about shot volume; it's been about shot selection, and both goaltenders have had to make difficult saves. Despite the high danger chances on both sides, the goalies have 20 saves apiece headed into the third. 

This has been another low-scoring Canada-USA gold-medal game, but it's been more of a goaltending duel than a search for a hero on offense. We've already seen several saves etched in women's international history as we gear up for the third.

Takeaways From the First Period

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A chippy, tense, opening period full of lots of pressure and few true shots on goal. Ah, there's truly nothing like this rivalry.

Early Penalty Trouble

Between the Too Many Players penalty early on and a late-period tripping penalty on Jincy Dunne, Team USA needs to clean it up. Sure, Frankel and the penalty kill have been solid, but you could see the exhaustion set in after the second kill. 

You don't want to make a gold-medal game against Team Canada any harder than it already is, no matter how many records your goaltender is breaking. 

As the period was expiring, Team USA was gaining momentum and drew its first power play of the game that'll put it on the advantage to start the second period. You know the Americans are beyond relieved they not only escaped their penalty-heavy first unscathed but also drew that hooking call as momentum was shifting in their favor. 

All around, we don't want to see this devolve into a penalty-for-penalty type of game. This rivalry gives us the absolute best hockey when these two teams stay out of the box and go pound-for-pound at even strength.

Team USA had two equally crucial penalty kills in the first after a too-many-players penalty and a tripping penalty that both threatened to shift the momentum towards Canada.

Team USA hasn't allowed a power-play goal all tournament and remained perfect after escaping two Canada power plays in the first. But these power plays tested them defensively more than any other moments in this tournament so far.

Aerin Frankel and Team USA's Defense

Team Canada as a whole has been testing them more than they've been tested during this dominant run, but this was to be expected with so much on the line.

Of course, your most important penalty killer is your goalie, and the U.S. is led by phenom Aerin Frankel. She broke a record these Olympics with three shutouts so far, the most for any women's goaltender in a tournament. 

Frankel ended up with eight saves, several of which could've bested any other goaltender.

So far, Team USA has passed Team Canada's defensive test, but you could see some heavy legs after that second penalty kill. Team USA will want more offensive zone time in the second.

Welcome Back, Canada-USA Gold-Medal Game

Team Canada looks far more up to task than it was in the preliminary round when Team USA cruised to a 5-0 win.

Welcome back, Marie-Philip Poulin, and welcome back to a Team Canada vs. Team USA gold-medal game. There's nothing better than having all the stars healthy and in attendance.

Poulin's impact has been felt all over the ice, as has Hilary Knight's after Team USA captain announced this would be her final Olympics before the game.

The pace remained pretty much even for the rest of the period, despite the U.S. having to kill off two penalties.

We anticipated a low-scoring game, and both teams struggled to get quality shots off. Canada's shot selection was slightly better, but you have to think the stars are kicking themselves in the locker room for failing to score on two early power plays.

The second period starts off with a clean, 0-0 slate, and a huge opportunity for Team USA on the power play.