The Women’s Ice Hockey Tournament at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 continued today with more of the PWHL’s 61 Olympians taking the ice for the first time in pursuit of gold. Below is a recap of day three results, notable performances, and a closer look at action ahead.
SATURDAY’S PRELIMINARY ROUND RECAP
CANADA (4) VS. SWITZERLAND (0)
New York’s Sarah Fillier and Toronto’s Daryl Watts both scored and added an assist apiece as Canada, the defending Winter Olympic gold medalists, picked up the win in their first game at Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena after Thursday’s opener was postponed. Sceptres veteran Natalie Spooner opened the scoring at 7:02 of the second period with the first of three power play goals for Canada in the contest. Seattle’s Julia Gosling also had a goal, Vancouver defender Claire Thompson had two assists, and Erin Ambrose (MTL), Renata Fast (TOR), Sarah Nurse (VAN) and captain Marie-Philip Poulin (MTL) all contributed helpers. Goldeneyes goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer earned the shutout as Canada outshot Switzerland 55-6.
UNITED STATES (5) VS. FINLAND (0)
Boston captain Megan Keller led the United States’ offense with a goal and two assists as the Americans improved to 2-0 atop the Group A standings. Seattle alternate captain Alex Carpenter scored her second goal of the tournament at 15:19 of the first period, which held as the winner, with Torrent captain Hilary Knight and Minnesota forward Taylor Heise also finding the back of the net. Frost forward Britta Curl-Salemme had two assists, and Fleet goaltender Aerin Frankel stopped all 11 shots for the shutout victory. Ottawa rookie Sanni Ahola stopped 44 shots in her Olympic debut between the pipes in Finland’s first game of the tournament. The U.S. has won all 11 Olympic meetings with Finland dating back to 1998.
SWEDEN (6) VS. ITALY (1)
Toronto’s Sara Hjalmarsson recorded a goal and an assist to help lead Sweden to a perfect 2-0 start in Group B action, handing host Italy its first loss of the tournament. Fellow Sceptre Anna Kjellbin picked up an assist from the blue line on the winning goal, and Victoire forward Lina Ljungblom had a primary helper for her third point in two games.
GERMANY (5) VS. JAPAN (2)
Boston’s Laura Kluge scored a goal and added three assists and Montréal goaltender Sandra Abstreiter made 20 saves to backstop Germany to its first win of the tournament. Germany’s last win at the Olympic Winter Games was also against Japan, in the seventh-place game in 2014.
RECORDS AND MILESTONES
- Knight scored her 14th career Olympic goal in her 24th game to tie the U.S. all-time record shared by Natalie Darwitz and Katie King.
- Kluge set a single-game record for points (4) by a member of the German Women’s National Team at the Olympics.
- Abstreiter became just the fourth German goaltender to record an Olympic victory in women’s hockey history.
- Frankel became the 10th U.S. goaltender to record an Olympic shutout, two days after earning her first Olympic victory.
- Maschmeyer became the fourth Canadian goaltender to record two Olympic shutouts, achieving the feat in her third career start.
- Carpenter became the sixth American woman to reach the 10-goal mark for her Olympic career.
- Nurse became the 11th Canadian woman to record 20 career points at the Olympic Winter Games (one point behind Spooner).
- Gosling and Watts both scored in their Olympic debuts, Heise scored in her second Olympic game, and Keller scored for the first time in her 14th game.
- Curl-Salemme recorded her first Olympic points in her second career game, and Kjellbin’s first career point came in her seventh Olympic game.
- Michelle Karvinen (VAN/FIN)became the sixth player in women’s ice hockey history to reach 25 games played at the Olympic Winter Games.
- Ahola, Jenn Gardiner (VAN/CAN), Sophie Jaques (VAN/CAN), Kristin O’Neill (NY/CAN), and Kati Tabin (MTL/CAN) round out the group of seven PWHL players to make their Olympic debuts today.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…
JOCKS IN JILLS
Jocks in Jills returned for its second live reaction show following Saturday’s action, with Tessa and Julia breaking down Day 3 of the women’s hockey tournament at Milano Cortina 2026. The duo welcomed commentators Kenzie Lalonde and Cheryl Pounder live from Milan, along with Florence Schelling — four-time Olympian and Winter Olympic bronze-medal-winning goaltender with Team Switzerland — and co-host of the PWHL Podcast Jocks Next Gen. Watch the full stream here.
Up Next: Jocks in Jills is back Monday, Feb. 9, with live analysis immediately after the day’s games conclude, capped by the 3:10 p.m. ET matchup between Canada and Czechia. Watch live on the PWHL’s YouTube channel.