Olympics Preview: Recapping the 2025 Rivalry Series

Team Canada captain Marie-Philip Poulin and Team USA captain Hilary Knight, courtesy of Nick Wosika, Imagn Images

The Rivalry Series showcases the best rivalry in all of sports: Team USA vs. Team Canada women's hockey.

The USA and Canada are the most dominant women's hockey teams, having medaled in every major tournament. The Rivalry Series, which began in 2018-19, brings the national teams to multiple cities across both countries and gives more opportunities for fans to see two of the best teams in all of sports. This year's Rivalry Series went to Cleveland and Buffalo ahead of the 2025-26 PWHL season, and to Edmonton a couple of weeks into the season.

The 2025 Rivalry Series took place just months before the 2026 Winter Olympics, allowing the teams to come together and fine-tune ahead of the Games against their biggest competition, and giving fans a chance to see the teams that will likely win the gold and silver medals.

If you're a Team USA fan, the Rivalry Series probably has you blasting "Free Bird" and chanting "USA! USA! USA!" But if you're a Team Canada fan, you're probably hoping your team is just saving its best stuff for February.

Game 1

Abbey Murphy, courtesy of Jason Miller, Getty Images

Rocket Arena, home of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Cleveland Monsters, and the future home of Cleveland's WNBA team, hosted the first game of the Rivalry Series on Nov 6. I had the opportunity to attend this game; it was such an electric environment, and it was so exciting seeing the best teams in hockey in person.

Canada's Sarah Fillier (New York Sirens) scored first, but it was all USA from there. Taylor Heise (Minnesota Frost) tied up the game after a shot from Cleveland native Laila Edwards (University of Wisconsin). Then, Abbey Murphy (University of Minnesota) became the star of the night when she completed a natural hat trick, leading Team USA to a 4-1 victory.

Team USA was only just getting started.

Game 2

Laila Edwards, Hilary Knight, and Alex Carpenter, courtesy of Adrian Kraus, AP Photo

Buffalo hosted the second game in the USA on Nov 8. This was the second time this year that professional women's hockey was played at KeyBank Center after Buffalo served as a host site for last season's PWHL Takeover Tour, which drew a crowd of over 8,500.

Team USA continued its momentum from the first game. After a scoreless first period, USA's captain, Hilary Knight (Seattle Torrent), struck first on the power play. Less than a minute later, the USA scored its second goal when Murphy forced a turnover and fed the puck to Kelly Pannek (Minnesota Frost). Canada's captain, Marie-Philip Poulin (Montréal Victoire), cut into the USA's lead, getting a puck past Gwyneth Philips (Ottawa Charge). Edwards gave the USA an insurance goal, and it all broke open for Team USA from there. Knight scored her second goal of the night, which was followed by a goal from Buffalo native Hayley Scamurra (Montréal Victoire) just over a minute and a half later. Knight then scored an empty-netter for the hat trick, giving the USA its second win of the series with a final score of 6-1.

Game 3

Hilary Knight and Alex Carpenter, courtesy of Rebecca Villagracia, Getty Images

Edmonton's Rogers Place hosted the two games in Canada on Dec 10 and 13. Edmonton drew in over 17,500 fans in last season's PWHL Takeover Tour and is getting two more stops this season.

If you thought Team USA was dominant before, they were on a whole other level in this game. They tallied 10 goals, which was the most Canada has ever allowed in international play.

Canada struck first in this game with a goal from Fillier 48 seconds in. Then, the USA took advantage of the power play, and Tessa Janecke (Penn State) tied the game, and a couple of minutes later, Murphy gave them the lead. With just under two minutes to go in the first frame, Jesse Compher (Toronto Sceptres) and Kendall Coyne Schofield (Minnesota Frost) both scored goals to give the USA a 4-1 lead. Britta Curl-Salemme (Minnesota Frost) put up the fifth goal for Team USA, leading to Canada making a goalie change. Sophie Jaques (Vancouver Goldeneyes) scored Canada's second goal, marking their first multi-goal game of the series. But the USA struck again with Pannek, making the score 6-2. Then, things heated up on the ice. Julia Gosling (Seattle Torrent) and Jacques put up back-to-back goals for Canada with less than two minutes to go in the second frame, bringing the score to 6-4. Just over a minute into the third period, Alex Carpenter (Seattle Torrent) ended Canada's momentum, putting up the seventh goal for Team USA. Pannek then put up her second goal of the game. The USA took advantage of another power play, with Kirsten Simms (University of Wisconsin) scoring the team's ninth goal of the evening. Finally, none other than Abbey Murphy topped off the night with Team USA's tenth goal, her second of the night and fifth of the Rivalry Series.

With this big victory, Team USA won the Rivalry Series for the first time since 2019-20.

Game 4

Abbey Murphy, Laila Edwards, and Taylor Heise, courtesy of Jason Franson, The Canadian Press via AP

The USA completed the sweep with a 4-1 victory in the final game, a feat neither team had accomplished in the tournament's six-year history.

After a scoreless first period, Caroline Harvey (University of Wisconsin) put Team USA on the board first. A minute later, Brianne Jenner (Ottawa Charge) answered with a goal of her own to tie it up. Edwards then scored the game-winning goal, and Knight put up two more goals to tie Murphy with five in the Rivalry Series.

Team USA has to be feeling good heading into next year after outscoring Canada 24-7 in the tournament. Their goals came from 13 different players, and they look like the team to beat for the gold.

Now, both teams have their eyes set on the Olympics. Can the USA keep up its strength and continue its momentum? And can Canada learn from this series to win gold again? There are 52 days until the first events of the 2026 Winter Olympics start. But who's counting?

Edited by: Kelly Cassette