MILAN — In the final game before the one everyone has been waiting for since a 4-0 sweep of Canada in the Rivalry Series two months ago, the United States improved to 3-0 in the preliminary round of the 2026 Winter Olympics with a systematic 5-0 win over Switzerland.

The U.S. and Canada will meet for the first of what most assume will be two times Tuesday night at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena.

Caroline Harvey and Joy Dunne each scored a goal and two assists. Haley Winn, Hannah Bilka and Alex Carpenter also scored for the Americans and Gwyneth Philips, making her first start of the tournament. She made 20 saves and combined for the shutout with Ava McNaughton, who got almost two minutes of action and made a save.

Hilary Knight had two assists and now has 31 in her Olympic career, one short of Jenny Potter’s record for the U.S.

Andrea Braendli, the Swiss No. 1, made her first start of the tournament and looked terrific in the first two periods of a game where the Americans controlled from the outset.

She stopped 16 of 17 shots in the first period, then 17 of 18 in the second period, to continually frustrate the United States until they broke through in the third. They finished with 50 shots.

But in the end, Switzerland just couldn’t mount an offensive attack.

“We had a nice chat after the second period, and I thought we were doing plenty of things to open that game up,” coach John Wroblewski said. “Switzerland’s goalie was awesome. She had some kind of force field going back there. We just needed to take a deep breath and go play.”

Now the Americans look ahead to Canadians, who lost star captain Marie-Philip Poulin to an injury Monday night against the Czech Republic.

“Yeah, I heard about that. It’s a shame,” Wroblewski said. “Every time we play (Canada), it’s got a different life, a different culture. There’s been different styles of games. Some are heavily penalized. Some are not. Some get off to an unruly start on the scoreboard. Some do not, and they’re tight checking throughout. We’ll see what we get (Tuesday night).”

Harvey looks the part

There’s a reason why many feel Caroline Harvey, the Wisconsin Badgers star, will be the No. 1 pick in the 2026 PWHL Draft. She’s an all-world skater and decision maker and can be dynamic with the puck.

Harvey, named Best Defender at the 2023 and 2025 World Championships, was dangling in and out of traffic all game, ripped a shot off the post and was constantly creating, such as her pinch up the wall to set up Winn’s first goal of the tournament. Harvey and Winn are childhood friends.

“I enjoy skating a lot, so when I get the puck, that’s the one thing I try to focus on at first, is to move my feet,” Harvey said. “And my teammates are great and so smart at getting open.”

The United States’ third goal — a redirection off Taylor Heise’s slap pass – came after Harvey flew down the boards, circled the net and threw a perfect pass in front for Heise’s setup.

It was Harvey’s second assist of the game before she added a highlight-reel goal in the third period.

“The amount of time that she drove was insane,” Wroblewski said. “I love the initiative that she takes. High event player and more positives than negatives.”

There’s a reason why Wroblewski kiddingly calls her the fourth Hughes sibling because of how she plays similarly to Quinn, Jack and Luke Hughes.

“Just a very unique, unique player,” Wroblewski said.

Philips had to be good

The Americans had the advantage all game, but this wasn’t as dominant as Canada holding the Swiss to six shots through 60 minutes two nights earlier.

Philips, the Ottawa Charge goalie, had to hold firm, including two earlier saves in the first minute and two on a first-period Swiss power play.

She made 15 saves through the first two periods, including a late push on another Switzerland power play and had to be good while preserving a 1-0 lead for what felt like the longest time as Braendli kept the United States at bay until Dunne’s needed cushion.

One of her calmest saves came in the third period when she almost casually gloved down Laura Zimmermann on a breakaway.

Philips said she found out she was starting on Sunday and was pumped.

“I’ve been preparing for this. The girls had my back,” she said.

She was also excited that McNaughton got some action: “She got a shot, too, and it was an absolute laser.”

The United States’ goaltending is simply terrific. They have allowed one goal in three games, with Aerin Frankel recording the other two wins.

In the Rivalry Series four-game sweep over Canada, Philips went 2-0 with a 2.50 goals-against average and .912 save percentage, while Frankel went 2-0 with a 1.00 goals-against average and .961 save percentage.

Dunne proving Wroblewski right

We know how elite the Americans’ top six is, but Wroblewski always talks glowingly about Dunne, the bottom-six forward who scored her second goal in the past two games.

It was before their game against Finland that Wroblewski maintained she hadn’t scored “yet,” and now she has two.

Her goal on Monday came when she came charging in on the forecheck and bumped a Swiss player off the puck. Then, from behind the net, she made a strong move in front of the goal line and backhanded a back shot for the insurance marker as the lively crowd was doing The Wave.

“We all know what our strengths are,” Dunne said, “and we know what our system is. And getting in on the forecheck is one of my favorite things to do.”

Dunne did interfere with Braendli in the third period to cause a Hayley Scamurra goal to be overturned, but Wroblewski loved her grit all game long. She also later assisted on Carpenter’s breakaway goal and Harvey’s beauty soon after.

It highlighted a strong game from depth players, including Grace Zumwinkle and Kirsten Simms.