by The United States Women’s ice hockey team kicks off the Olympics with a 2-0 record in the preliminary rounds. The US played Czechia on Thursday, February 5, then took on Finland on Saturday, February 7. The US women’s hockey team will face off against Switzerland on Monday, February 9, at 2:40 p.m. ET and can be viewed on USA Network and streaming on Peacock.
Thursday, February 5
The women hit the ice for the first time during the 2026 Winter Olympics and walked away with a victory over Czechia on Thursday. The first period was off to a slow start until Czechia served a two-minute penalty for an illegal check to the head or neck at 15:24. The United States jumped at the power-play opportunity to score their first goal of the game at 15:55 by Alex Carpenter with help from Morgan Keller and Laila Edwards.
Joy Dunne wasted no time in the second frame, securing a goal at 3:13, assisted by Tessa Janecke. Hayley Scamurra followed up soon after with the third goal of the game at 4:36 with another assist from Tessa Janecke. At 6:30, Czechia served another two-minute penalty for an illegal hit, but soon added their own mark to the scoreboards at 8:37. Hilary Knight kept the US ahead by three by scoring a goal at 17:50 with help from Alex Carpenter and Hannah Bilka. The US ended the second period with Laila Edwards serving a two-minute penalty for tripping at 19:15.
The United States secured its final goal of the game at 4:22 in the third frame by Hayley Scamurra with an assist from Kelly Pannek. Czechia served a late two-minute penalty at 19:57 for delaying the game, but the US secured a 5-1 victory. Aerin Frankel was in goal for the United States on Thursday and saved 14 of the total 15 shots on goal.
Saturday, February 7
Saturday’s game started slowly, with Finland serving a two-minute penalty at 5:41 for holding of a stick and then at 15:12 for hooking. The United States took full advantage of the power-play opportunity and scored its first goal of the game at 15:19 by Alex Carpenter with an assist from Laila Edwards and Megan Keller.
Taylor Heise was quick to score a second goal for the US at 2:31 of the second period, getting help from Abbey Murphy and Britta Curl. The United States stayed on a hot streak when Megan Keller secured an unassisted goal at 3:37. Finland served another two-minute penalty at 8:24 for holding, and Hilary Knight took advantage of another power-play, scoring a goal at 9:17 with help from Laila Edwards and Megan Keller. The Finnish women ended the second frame with a two-minute penalty for tripping, keeping the US up 4-0.
Finland kicked off the final frame with a tripping penalty at 1:29 and a hooking penalty at 4:01. The United States scored its final goal at 15:56 by Abbey Murphy, assisted by Britta Curl and Caroline Harvey, to end the game 5-0. Aerin Frankel was in goal again for the United States and saved all 11 shots on goal.
Image sourced via Google Images.
