The Canadian women’s hockey team takes another step towards defending its Olympic gold medal as they take on Germany in the quarter-finals on Saturday at Milano Cortina 2026.
The health of captain Marie-Philip Poulin will continue to dominate, whether she is in the lineup against the Germans or not.
Poulin was the first player on the ice Friday morning and took part in the full practice as she skated in her top-line spot alongside Daryl Watts and Sarah Fillier. She was repeatedly skating around testing out her right leg.
TSN’s Claire Hanna reported that Poulin, who is considered day-to-day, will have another medical assessment Saturday morning before Canada’s game to determine if she is able to play.
The 33-year-old suffered a leg injury in Monday’s 5-1 victory over Czechia after taking a hit along the boards from Czech forward Kristyna Kaltounkova midway through the first period.
Poulin tried to come back during the opening frame but didn’t join the team on the bench in the second period before she was ruled out for the remainder of the game.
She sat out Tuesday’s 5-0 loss to the Americans and Thursday’s 5-0 win over Finland.
Team Canada’s young players have led the way offensively so far at this Olympic Games.
Julia Gosling, who is skating in her first Olympics, leads the team in goals (three) and points (five) through the first four games with Fillier and Watts not far behind with two goals and four points each.
Canada got some depth scoring against Finland as Emily Clark picked up two goals with Kristin O’Neill and Jenn Gardiner, who have primarily been skating on the fourth line, also scoring.
Ann-Renée Desbiens has seen the lion’s share of the crease time for Canada as she started three games in a row against Czechia, USA and Finland. In her three appearances, she has a .904 save percentage and 2.09 GAA.
Desbiens was pulled late in the third period of Tuesday’s loss to the United States and was replaced by backup Emerance Maschmeyer.
Maschmeyer started the first game against Switzerland, stopping only six shots in a 4-0 victory.
For Germany, Laura Kluge is one of the tournament leaders in scoring with three goals and seven points in four games. Defender Nina Jobst-Smith, who plays for the PWHL’s Vancouver Goldeneyes, has averaged 26:10 of ice time with two goals and one assist, including the overtime winner over France.
Goaltender Sandra Abstreiter started all four games for Germany in the preliminary round, recording a .917 save percentage and 1.99 GAA.
Germany’s only loss so far in the tournament was their opening game against Group B winner Sweden as the Swedes ran away with a 4-1 win.
This will be the first time Canada and Germany will meet in an Olympic women’s hockey game.
