02/09/26 06:11:00
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02/09 18:09 CST Harvey, Dunne lead US to 3rd straight win in Olympic women's
hockey. Poulin hurt as Canada wins
Harvey, Dunne lead US to 3rd straight win in Olympic women's hockey. Poulin
hurt as Canada wins
By JOHN WAWROW
AP Hockey Writer
MILAN (AP) --- After raving about his young players, goaltending and defender
Caroline Harvey's driving speed in a 5-0 win over Switzerland on Monday, U.S.
coach John Wroblewski was quickly reminded of the next challenge ahead for his
women's hockey team at the Milan Cortina Games.
Canada is up next. And with or without Marie-Philip Poulin --- Canada's
"Captain Clutch --- Wroblewski understands his team is in for a handful on
Tuesday.
"Yeah, I heard about that. It's a shame," Wroblewski said of Poulin limping off
the ice and missing the final two periods of Canada's 5-1 win over Czechia.
Canada coach Troy Ryan said he didn't have full details of Poulin's apparent
lower-body injury. He said it was too early to say whether she could play
Tuesday.
"The interesting thing about looking forward to Canada is that every time we
play them, it's got a different life, a different culture," Wroblewski said.
"And so we'll what we get tomorrow night."
The U.S. might be favored in the tournament, but the Canadians are the
defending Olympic champions.
The Americans continued finding new contributors in winning their first three
games by a combined score of 15-1. It was the youngsters' time to shine against
Switzerland.
Harvey and Joy Dunne, two of seven U.S. players still in college, each had a
goal and two assists.
Gwyneth Philips stopped 20 shots in her Olympic debut, and shared the shutout
with Ava McNaughton, The 21-year-old McNaughton stopped one shot after being
inserted with 1:48 left. Alex Carpenter, Hannah Bilka and Haley Winn also
scored in an outing the Americans closed with three goals in the first 7:42 of
the third period.
Captain Hilary Knight had two assists to increase her Olympic career point
total to 31 --- one short of matching the U.S. record set by Jenny Potter.
If not for Swiss goalie Andrea Braendli stopping 35 of the first 37 shots she
faced, and 45 overall, the game could well have been an early rout.
"Switzerland's goalie was awesome. She had some kind of force field going back
there, I don't know what," Wroblewski said. "I think we just needed take a deep
breath."
Switzerland dropped to 1-2 and was shut out for the second straight outing
following a 4-0 loss to Canada on Saturday.
"It takes it's toll after a while, they just keep on coming at you," Swiss
coach Colin Muller said. "I thought we did a great job defensively and better
offensively today. We had more courage than we had last game. It's great to
see. Every game we get better. If it ended up 3-1, I would've been happy."
Though Switzerland tested the Americans early, Philips stood firm.
The second-year PWHL Ottawa Charge goalie kicked out her left skate just in
time to stop a shot from Ivana Wey in the opening minute. Some 12 1/2 minutes
in, Philips got her glove up to foil Rahel Enzler, who was set up on the
doorstep.
Philips said the early action helped settle her nerves. And she was more than
happy to share the shutout.
"I'm ecstatic. I'm so happy with Ava," Philips said. "She's one heck of a
goalie and she deserves to be here and get some ice time."
Then it was Harvey's turn to take over. The offensive-minded defender drove up
the left boards and sent a pass into the middle for Winn to redirect for the
opening goal 6:04 in. Harvey capped the scoring by driving in from the left
point and beating Braendli by jamming in the puck on the short side.
"It was a great game. Super fired up for the girls," Harvey said, deflecting
the credit. "Just driving my feet. Teammates were getting open and they were
making stuff happen and it was a lot of fun with the girls tonight."
After having limited playing time at the 2022 Beijing Games, the Wisconsin
senior has been spurred by Wroblewski to use her speed and playmaking abilities.
"The amount of times that she drove was insane. I loved the initiatives that
she takes," the coach said. "I hope it keeps rolling, not only for her, but for
her teammates."
Poulin's exit overshadows Canada win
After Poulin exited, her team responded with a rush of goals.
Canada was leading 1-0 on Kristin O'Neill's goal when Poulin left the game
after being rocked by an illegal hit from Kristyna Kaltounkova. Poulin then
seemed to be keeping weight off her right leg as she left the ice seconds into
her next shift.
The Canadians scored twice in a minute soon after, with goals by Laura Stacey
and Sarah Fillier prompting the Czechs to pull starting goalie Julie Pejsova
for Michaela Hesova. Canada moved to 2-0 for the tournament but was denied a
second shutout when Natalie Mlynkova scored for the Czechs.
Italy, Germany advance
Host nation Italy secured a place in the quarterfinals of the Olympic women's
hockey tournament for the first time by beating Japan 3-2 on Monday.
Germany followed by claiming its spot in the next round with a 2-1 overtime win
over France.
Both Italy and Germany improved to 2-1 and joined Sweden (3-0) in completing
the three Group B nations to clinch a quarterfinal berth. Japan and France were
eliminated from contention.
Italy advanced in just its second Olympic appearance, both as the host, after
going 0-4 at the 2006 Turin Games and finishing last among the eight-team field.
"I think this is everybody's dream coming true," Italy's Canada-born goalie
Gabriella Durante said. "Hopefully this just grows hockey in Italia that much
more for little girls all over the country."
Matilde Fantin scored twice, and Kristen Della Rovere's third period goal stood
up as the game winner.
Jobst-Smith scores in OT
Katarina Jobst-Smith scored for Germany 1:17 into overtime by snapping in a
shot from the high slot just inside the left post. Laura Kluge also scored and
Sandra Abstreiter stopped 13 shots.
Estelle Duvin forced OT by scoring 8:21 into the third period, and Alice
Philbert stopped 44 shots. France finished 0-4 in its Olympic debut, and was
outscored by a combined margin of 13-4.
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AP Sports Writer James Ellingworth contributed to this report.
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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
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