U.S. Women Win Olympic Hockey Gold Over Their Heated Rivals Canada in Dramatic Overtime Comeback

Team USA won gold in the women’s hockey final at the 2026 Winter Olympics
The thriller of a game required overtime, after U.S. captain Hilary Knight scored with just two minutes to go to tie the game
Megan Keller snuck the puck past Canada’s goalie to win the game

Team USA is golden again.

The U.S. women’s hockey team beat their heated rivals Canada to secure their third Olympic gold in overtime with a score of 2-1 on Thursday, Feb. 19, after nearly 60 minutes in which it looked like Canada would take the win.

At Milan’s Santagiulia Arena, it was a tightly-fought game in the first period, with Canada getting the better chances. But it wasn’t until the start of the second — with the U.S. on a power play — that Canada broke away for the first goal of the night. The U.S. searched for goals the rest of the second period and into the third, but Canada’s defense kept them from getting nearly any solid chances.

The U.S. looked doomed for silver until just 2 minutes and 3 seconds to go in the game, when team captain Hilary Knight scored to make it 1-1. Knight, playing in her fifth and final Olympics, became the top goal scorer in U.S. Olympic history with her tally.

Hilary Knight scores to tie the gold medal match.Gregory Shamus/Getty

The game then went into overtime — now 20 minutes of 3-on-3 play until a goal is scored, per the new rules this Olympics — with the U.S.’s Megan Keller getting a goal past Canada goalie Ann-Renee Desbiens to win the game, and the gold.

Megan Keller celebrates after scoring the golden goal at the 2026 Winter Olympics.Bruce Bennett/Getty

With the win, Knight won her second Olympic gold, and fifth Olympic medal in her fifth and final Games. The 36-year-old previously told PEOPLE she first dreamt of playing at the Olympics when she was 7, two years before a women’s tournament was even added to the the Games.

Knight — who also got engaged during the Milan Games after proposing to her fellow Olympian girlfriend Brittany Bowe — told PEOPLE that she was thrilled to have her family back at the Olympics to support her, after they had to miss the 2022 Beijing Games due to COVID restrictions.

“Talking to your parents through a TV screen after a game is very different than having that hug after a game that you’re so used to,” the hockey star said. “I’m really looking forward to the family aspect, the support [of them] being there.”