MILAN – Sarah Fillier and Darryl Watt each had a goal and an assist for Canada in a 4-0 win over Switzerland to open the 2026 Olympic women’s hockey tournament Saturday.
Fillier, Natalie Spooner and Julia Gosling scored power-play goals and Watts struck even strength for the defending champions. Defender Claire Thompson had a pair of assists.
Saskia Maurer was stalwart in the Swiss net in turning away 50 shots.
Switzerland was scheduled to be Canada’s second opponent of the Milan Cortina Games, but Thursday’s opener between Canada and Finland was rescheduled to Feb. 12 because of multiple cases of the norovirus among the Finns.
A Swiss player also had the virus, which put the hockey team in isolation Friday and out of the opening ceremonies after a 4-3 shootout win over Czechia earlier that day.
But Switzerland iced a full complement of 20 skaters and two goalies Saturday at the Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena, which is a low-ceiling temporary rink constructed inside an exhibition centre, and seats between 5,700 and 6,000 people.
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Canada’s top goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens didn’t dress Thursday. Canada gave Emerance Maschmeyer the start and Olympic rookie Kayle Osborne was the backup.
Maschmeyer repelled six shots for her shutout, including a stop on Singja Leemann on a partial breakaway in the second period.
Canada faces Czechia on Monday, the United States on Tuesday and Finland on Thursday.
Canada outshot the Swiss 17-2 and 30-3 at period breaks. The Canadians cashed in on three of their five power-play chances, while the Swiss went 0 for 1.
Spooner scored Canada’s first goal of the tournament when she got enough of her stick shaft on a rebound following a Marie-Philip Poulin attempt at 7:02 of the second period.
Fillier had an open net less than three seconds after an offensive-zone draw. After a Renata Fast shot, Fillier wired the rebound by Mauer at 4:03 of the third.
Gosling redirected an Erin Ambrose shot for Canada’s third goal at 13:36. Watts beat Maurer from the hash marks with a rising shot at 16:44.
The Finns also deployed a full team in a 5-0 loss to the United States in an earlier game Saturday. The U.S. topped Group A at 2-0.
All five top-seeded teams in Group A advance to quarterfinals Feb. 13-14 and will be joined by the top three from Group B.
Sweden downed host Italy 6-1 to improve to 2-0 and Germany defeated Japan 5-2 in Group B on Saturday. Italy, Germany and Japan were tied with 1-1 records. France was 0-2.
All 23 Canadian women play in the Professional Women’s Hockey League. Swiss centre Aline Müller plays for the PWHL’s Boston Fleet and defender Nicole Vallario for the New York Sirens. Swiss forward Vanessa Schaefer is a University of British Columbia Thunderbird.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 7, 2026.
© 2026 The Canadian Press