Team Canada defeats Switzerland in women’s hockey opener
Patience is proving to be an important attribute for Team Canada’s women’s hockey team at Milano Cortina 2026.
After having their opening game postponed on Thursday, Canada had to wait until the third period to get their offense clicking in a 4-0 victory over Switzerland at the Milano Rho Arena on Saturday.
Canada led just 1-0 after 40 minutes despite outshooting the Swiss 30-3. In the third, Canada’s offense started to convert on their chances, scoring three more to ensure the defending Olympic champions opened the tournament with a victory.
Natalie Spooner, Sarah Fillier, Julia Gosling and Daryl Watts scored for Canada while goaltender Emerance Maschmeyer, who had to be sharp with Switzerland staying within striking distance for most of the game, stopped all six shots she faced. Shots ended 55-6 in favour of Canada, who controlled the game for most of the night.
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Canada was supposed to open these Olympic Winter Games on Thursday but the match was rescheduled due to a norovirus outbreak impacting the Finnish team. Canada and Finland will now close out the preliminary round on Feb. 12.
The schedule disruption didn’t seem to impact Team Canada on Saturday with the ice tilted in favour of the Canadians early in the first period. Canada recorded the game’s first 11 shots with their best chance coming when Renata Fast floated a backhander off the bar. The Swiss weren’t able to record a shot until the midway point of the opening frame, forcing Maschmeyer to be sharp on a two-on-one chance.
Fast was on the ice for nearly half of the first period, playing 9:37 and registering four of Canada’s 17 shots. Maschmeyer faced just two Swiss shots.
Canada went to their second power play of the game 6:43 into the middle frame. 15 seconds in, Spooner, the Olympic veteran who was playing as Canada’s 13th forward, was parked in front of the net and put in the rebound of a Marie-Philip Poulin shot to open the scoring.
Like the first, most of the play in the second took place in the Canadian offensive end, forcing Swiss goaltender Saskia Maurer to make 12 saves in the period. Switzerland didn’t record a shot until there was 6:17 remaining and that proved to be their lone scoring chance of the period.
Canada went back to the power play early in the third period when Ivana Wey was called for a board on Fillier. Not long after the Swiss successfully killed off the Canada power play, Wey put her team down a body once again when she went back to the box for another boarding infraction. This time Canada would connect when a point shot went off the boards and bounced back in front, giving Fillier a wide open net to make it 2-0.
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Canada went to the power play again with 7:50 remaining. This time it would be Gosling scoring, redirecting an Erin Ambrose point shot to give the Canadians a 3-0 advantage.
Watts gave Canada a 4-0 lead with 3:16 remaining. The Olympic rookie skated into the circle from the sideboards and picked her spot, beating Maurer to extend Canada’s advantage.
Gosling and Watts were two of six Canadian skaters making their Olympic debuts in this game. Jenn Gardiner, Sophie Jaques, Kristin O’Neill and Kati Tabin also made their debuts while goaltender Kayle Osborne, who was Canada’s backup, also dressed for her first Olympic game.
Canada improved to 6-0 all-time against Switzerland at the Olympic Winter Games, which includes two wins at Beijing 2022.
Canada is in Group A at Milano Cortina 2026 along with Finland, Czechia, Switzerland and the United States. Group B consists of Germany, Sweden, Japan, Italy and France.
The tournament’s preliminary round will take place Feb. 5-12 with games split between the Milano Rho Arena and Milano Santagiulia Arena. Quarterfinals will take place Feb. 13-14 followed by the semifinals on Feb. 16. The gold and bronze medal games will be held on Feb. 19.
Canada will have Sunday off to prepare for Czechia on Monday at 3:10 p.m. ET. The much-hyped showdown against the United States will take place Tuesday at 2:10 p.m. ET followed by the rescheduled game against Finland on Thursday at 8:30 a.m. ET.
