Hilary Knight played the hero as she scored the equalizer late in the third period to tie the gold-medal game with Canada in of the women’s hockey gold-medal game at Milano Cortina 2026.
Canada was clinging to a 1-0 lead after Kristin O’Neil scored shorthanded to open the second period.
USA controlled play throughout the third period, finally breaking through with Aerin Frankel pulled for the extra attacker.
Ann Renee Desbiens stood tall for most of this game, allowing a goal on 28 American shots while Franklen allowed one goal on 27 shots.
Canada reached this point after going 3-1-0 in round-robin play to finish in second place in Group A. Their lone loss was a 5-0 loss to the Americans.
The Canadians advanced to the gold-medal game after defeating Switzerland 2-1 in the semifinal on Monday.
USA finished in first place in Group A after going a perfect 4-0 in round-robin action. They dispatched Finland 5-0 on Monday to advance to the gold-medal game.
The United States and Canada has met in seven of the eight gold-medal finals since women’s hockey was added to the Olympic games in 1998.
Canada entered Milano Cortina 2026 as the defending Olympic champions and are looking for their sixth gold medal in the country’s history.
USA last won gold in during the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea and are looking for the country’s third gold medal.
