Canada’s Emily Clark, left, turns the puck away from American Laila Edwards during the third period of their preliminary round game at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, on Tuesday. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)

MILAN — As top-seeded Team USA practiced a day before its quarterfinal matchup against host Italy, the Canadians were on the nearby main rink reminding everyone it might not be time to count them out of the women’s hockey Olympic tournament just yet.

It was evident in the sound of Canada’s goal song — Bachman-Turner Overdrive’s “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet” — consistently echoing through the Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena complex during a 5-0 preliminary round-closing win over Finland on Thursday.

The victory clinched the defending Olympic champions the second seed in Group A, and a quarterfinal meeting against Germany on Saturday.

More significantly, it represented Canada’s response to a 5-0 loss to the Americans on Tuesday, marking the women team’s most lopsided loss and first time being shut out in Olympic play.

“Of course we needed that. It felt good for all of us,” forward Laura Stacey said.

“We needed a good message to be sent, honestly to everybody, but more importantly ourselves,” she added. “I think we are a confident bunch. We know what we can do. Obviously, it wasn’t our best game the other night. But this is the Olympics here, and we regrouped. We battled, and came back really strong today.”

It’s on to the knockout round for the remaining eight-team field, and headed by the tournament-favored Americans, who swept all four games by a combined score of 20-1.

The U.S. will play Italy today, the same day third-seeded Czechia will face Group B winner Sweden.

Canada’s quarterfinal outing is Saturday, along with Finland playing Switzerland in a matchup of Group A’s fourth- and fifth-place finishers.

U.S.-Italy

The Americans get the easiest draw and face an Italian team making just its second Olympic appearance — both times as host — and finished 2-2 after going 0-4 at the 2006 Turin Games. Their roster is made up of numerous North Americans with Italian heritage, including leading scorer Kristin Della Rovere, who’s from Canada.

“I’m beyond proud of our team and our girls,” Della Rovere said of a team that clinched its berth with a 3-2 win over Japan.

“Yeah, we’re aware of who we’re playing, arguably the best hockey team in the world,” she said, referring to the U.S. “We’re going to focus on what we can control and play Italian hockey and hope to put up a good fight here.”

Czechia-Sweden

Czechia’s third-place finish comes four years after making its tournament debut. The nation’s program has been on the rise since. In four years under coach Carla MacLeod, the Czechs won consecutive bronze medals — the nation’s first — at the 2022 and ’23 world championships, and finished fourth in each of the past two.

Czechia’s roster features eight players from the Professional Women’s Hockey League — third-most among the competing nations.

Sweden is trying to re-establish its women’s hockey prominence 20 years after winning silver by upsetting the U.S. in the semifinals at Turin.

Finland-Swiss

Finland is 4-1 in Olympic play against Switzerland, including a 3-1 win Tuesday. Finland otherwise was shut out in its three other preliminary round games.

“I don’t think we should compare the last game to what the next game will look like,” Finland captain Michelle Karvinen said. “It’s a quarterfinal, everything is on the line and it’s going to be a totally different game.”

Switzerland finished the preliminary round with a shootout win over Czechia, and three losses.

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AP Olympic coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics