MILAN -- Canada will play for women’s Olympic hockey gold again. The defending champions are a win away from repeating, but will be the underdogs Thursday against a talented, relentless United States team that has outscored its opposition 31-1 in the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics. Marie-Philip Poulin has been a clutch player in previous Olympic finals, but the captain was the difference in a 2-1 semifinal win Monday over Switzerland. She scored both of Canada’s goals in the second period to break the Olympic women’s scoring record. Poulin became the first woman to score 20 career goals in the women’s tournament. Her former teammate Hayley Wickenheiser held the previous record of 18. “So clutch and no better way to do it than breaking a record in doing so,” said Canadian defender Renata Fast. “She’s just such an incredible player. I know we all know it, but she shines in moments like this. But it’s the work she puts in every single day that allows her to do. It’s not by fluke, it’s not just by pure skill, it is work ethic.” Canada will have played in all eight finals dating back to the Olympic debut of women’s hockey in 1998 in Nagano, Japan. Canada is 5-2 in previous finals with losses to the U.S. in 1998 and 2018. The United States and Canada have clashed in every Olympic final but one in 2006 in Turin, Italy, where the Swedes upset the Americans in a semifinal shootout. The U.S. blanked Sweden 5-0 earlier Monday. The Americans are riding a five-game shutout streak, including a 5-0 win over Canada in Group A, heading into the final. “It’s the gold medal game,” said U.S. forward Taylor Heise. “Everyone’s going to show up, and if they don’t, they’re not meant to be there.” It wasn’t easy for Canada to get there. The Canadians and the Swiss met in an Olympic semifinal for the third time Monday after Canada’s 10-3 win in 2022 in Beijing, and a 3-1 decision in 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Monday’s score was the closest between Canada and Switzerland in international women’s hockey, despite the Canadians outshooting the Swiss 46-8. The Swiss stepped up pressure in the third period after halving the deficit. Captain Lara Stalder called Canada “shaky and beatable” after the game. “Hockey’s not easy,” said Canadian forward Laura Stacey. “We’re at the Winter Olympics. Everybody wants to win. “We’re going to the gold-medal game. We won this game, we scratched, we clawed, we battled hard. We got a lot of shots. We’ve got to find a way to put a few more in, but at the end the day the gold medal is going to be a battle.” Switzerland went with Andrea Braendli in goal Monday after starting Saskia Maurer in a Group A game, which Canada won 4-0. Braendli stopped 44 shots, while Canada’s Ann-Renee Desbiens made seven saves. Canada outshot the Swiss 13-1 and 35-4 at period breaks and led 2-0 after two periods. But the Canadians didn’t handle a heavy forecheck by the Swiss in the third period and turned the puck over behind their own net. Alina Muller fed Rahel Enzler in the slot to beat Desbiens on Switzerland’s seventh shot of the game at 4:53. The Swiss pulled Braendli for an extra attacker with two minutes remaining, but an illegal hit penalty to Ivana Wey negated that advantage. “I thought the first period, maybe we came out a little bit slow,” Canadian head coach Troy Ryan said. “In the second period we came out flying just with a different attack mentality, a shot mentality. Poulin and her line were so hungry around the net. “The third period, just a little bit back and forth, probably played a little too safe, and then a breakdown bringing the puck back into our end made it a little closer than it needed to be.” The first period ended with no scoring, but Poulin broke the tension for her team at 1:49 of the second period when her one-timer deflected off Swiss forward Naemi Herzig, bounced twice and got by the Swiss goalie. Poulin followed up at 8:21 when she was tripped driving the crease, yet shovelled a rebound by a sprawling Braendli after a Darryl Watts attempt. “We knew Switzerland was going to come out hard, and they did. They have a great goalie as well,” Poulin said. “We struggled a little bit in the first period. We came out hard in the second. “We put pucks in, but I think we’ve got to be a little bit more poised and try to create a little more.” By Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 16, 2026.
