MILAN — On the eve of its showdown with the United States, Canada lost star Marie-Philip Poulin in a 5-1 victory over the Czech Republic on Monday night at Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena.

Poulin, the consensus best player in the history of women’s hockey, left the group-stage game at 8:52 of the first period after taking a hard hit by Kristýna Kaltounková during a puck battle along the boards.

Kaltounková — the PWHL’s leading scorer as a 23-year-old rookie for the New York Sirens — drilled her shoulder into Poulin, sending her crashing into the boards. Poulin lay prone on the ice for a moment before getting to her knees, grimacing in obvious pain as the two teams skirmished up the ice. Poulin got up on her own, wincing as she headed to the bench. She took one faceoff on the ensuing power play before going back to the locker room.

Poulin returned to the bench to a big cheer and watched the rest of the first period with her teammates without taking the ice. She did not return for the second and was ruled out for the remainder of the game ahead of the final frame. Her teammates appeared to take the hit personally, quickly turning a relatively taut 1-0 game into a 5-0 laugher over the following 12 minutes of play, with Sarah Fillier, Laura Stacey and Julia Gosling (twice) scoring.

Poulin, a five-time Olympian and Canada’s captain, is one goal away from tying Canadian Hayley Wickenheiser’s record for most goals in the Olympics.

Canada kills off big five-on-three early

Canada opened the door early for Czechia, with Stacey taking a tripping penalty just 2:33 into the game. And the Czechs quickly went to work, with Kaltounková setting up shop in the right circle. Kaltounková had a one-timer stopped by Ann-Renee Desbiens, and another blast slip just wide of the net.

When Renata Fast then nudged aside Czech defender Noemi Neubauerova, sending her crashing back-first into the boards, it handed Czechia a 63-second five-on-three just 3:30 into the game. Unfortunately for Czechia, Kaltounková had to spend the first half of it on the bench after the long shift. Once Canada cleared and Kaltounková hopped over the boards, she immediately had a one-timer blocked. Czechia then hit a post and Desbiens made another save from close range. Over the course of the overlapping power plays, the Czechs had four shots on goal and at least three other good looks. It was a solid effort, but Czechia ultimately couldn’t capitalize on its best opportunity of the game.

Nothing sparks a team quite like killing off a five-on-three, and Canada scored in transition just 14 seconds after Fast was freed, as Kristin O’Neill batted in a fluttering Fast rebound for a 1-0 lead.

Later in the period with Kaltounková joining Barbora Jurickova in the penalty box for another illegal hit, Canada had no such trouble with its own five-on-three, with Gosling swatting in a rebound for a 4-0 lead.

Canada’s response without Poulin

Canada could have wilted after seeing its captain limp off to the room, but instead rallied, scoring two goals in quick succession to blow the game open.

First, it was Fillier who threw the puck on net for a deflection off Dominika Lásková for her second goal of the tournament — her 10th in nine career games at the Olympics. Then, 39 seconds later, Stacey scored her first of the tournament to put Canada up 3-0.

There’s always a consensus with Team Canada that if you shut down Poulin, you have a chance against Canada. But we quickly saw that wasn’t the case, at least against Czechia, with goals from four forwards from up and down the lineup.

Canada did well to stay disciplined in the immediate aftermath of the hit, too. There were no big penalties, and no egregious extracurriculars. Not with a big preliminary-round matchup against Team USA coming on Tuesday night. That said, Gosling did have an opportunity to lay a clean hit on Kaltounková along the boards in the second frame and she took her shot.

Big skates to fill for Canada

There’s no replacing Poulin, whose very presence seems to give Canada the mental edge most nights. The most clutch player in the game, Poulin scored the gold-medal-winning goals in three of her previous four Olympics (2010, 2014 and 2022). So it’s not as simple as next woman up. That said, Canada isn’t lacking for talented options to replace Poulin on the top line if she can’t suit up at Milano Santaguilia Ice Hockey Arena.

Fillier is the first player who comes to mind for obvious reasons.

“She could be Ms. Canada after Pou is gone,” said one player in The Athletic’s anonymous player poll.

She’s been the most dynamic player for Team Canada early in this tournament and actually led Canada in ice time (22:36) during its 4-0 win against Switzerland. She’s an elite offensive talent — and ranked third in The Athletic’s player ranking leading into Milan — with big-time international experience. She was among Canada’s top scorers at the 2022 Olympics and could have a massive 2026 tournament.

Her line with Sarah Nurse and Daryl Watts was the only trio that stayed together throughout the game as head coach Troy Ryan put the lines in a blender and that could be a critical group if Canada is going to have success against the Americans when it matters most.

Ambrose briefly leaves game

Canadian defender Erin Ambrose left the game midway through the third period after appearing to get cut while down in the crease. Czech forward Natálie Mlýnková, Ambrose’s Montreal Victoire teammate, clipped the back of Ambrose’s leg with the blade of her skate.

She returned to the game with 7:03 remaining, which was good news for an already-depleted Canadian team.

Ambrose may not be the best offensive or defensive defender in the game, but she may be the strongest at combining both elements. Over the last three years with the Victoire, she’s seventh in Offensive Rating and second in Defensive Rating behind only American star Lee Stecklein.