Caroline Harvey and Joy Dunne starred with a goal and two assists apiece and the U.S. pulled away in the third period to beat Switzerland 5-0 on Monday. The Americans, the reigning world champions, have a perfect 3-0 record in Group A.

Alex Carpenter had a goal and an assist for the U.S., and Haley Winn and Hannah Bilka got their first career Olympic goals. Captain Hilary Knight added two assists and now has 31 career Olympic points, one shy of the U.S. record held by Jenny Potter (32).

"She's a great mentor," said Winn of Knight. "So to see her do so well isn't really a surprise for us, but she's definitely leading the team by example. We're lucky to have her."

The Swiss have yet to record a goal against the Americans in four tries in Olympic history.

"I think we started off pretty strong," said Swiss assistant captain Kaleigh Quennec. "We held them at 0-0 for a bit, and there were a couple goals that we should maybe not let in. But as a group, we really created some momentum throughout the game, and we stuck to our game plan. It's definitely not the score that we wanted, but I think there's a lot of positives that we can take out of it."

The Americans now gear up for the marquee matchup of the preliminary round: a showdown with defending Olympic champion Canada for top spot in Group A on Tuesday. The U.S. has two Olympic gold medals (1998, 2018) to Canada’s five (2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2022), and the North American sides have faced each other in six out of seven Olympic finals. Not without reason is this viewed as one of the greatest rivalries in international sports.

"In that game there was a lot of offence, and you've got to take it with a grain of salt, because we know Canada tomorrow is going to come back with some offence as well," said the U.S.'s Taylor Heise. "So our D-zone's got to be really tight, and I think we're going to be ready."

Switzerland finishes off its preliminary round on Tuesday versus Finland. The Swiss have two points to Finland's zero, and can overtake the Czechs to finish third in Group A with a win.

The U.S. outshot Switzerland 50-21. Top Swiss goalie Andrea Braendli returned in net and battled hard after missing the first two games due to illness.

U.S. goalie Aerin Frankel got the night off as Gwyneth Philps made her Olympic debut with a shutout. The Ottawa Charge netminder memorably took over from Frankel in the 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship game when the Boston Fleet star was injured in a collision with Canada’s Laura Stacey. Philps did not surrender a goal in that 4-3 overtime victory, and was dialed in again here in Milan, facing quality shots if not a huge quantity.

The Swiss came out with spirit, but the American edge in skill and depth soon began to show. Braendli flashed her glove to stone Heise on a breakaway five minutes in.

The Americans activated their defence to open the scoring at 6:04. Off a faceoff in the Swiss end, Harvey – who leads all NCAA defenders with 54 points for Wisconsin this year – skated the puck into the corner and centred it to her partner Winn on the doorstep to put it in.

"She's awesome," Winn said of Harvey. "She's so full of energy. You know she's going to make the right play. She's offensive but gets back on defence. So it's just really fun to play with her."

Switzerland had some chances to tie it up. Midway through the first period, Ivana Wey rang a long shot off the post. Philps was dazzling during the game's first power play with Rory Guilday off for tripping, stretching out to rob Rahel Enzler. Still, first-period shots favoured the U.S. 18-6.

Early in the second period, it was Harvey's turn to hit the post from long range. She dipsy-doodled her way through the Swiss defence and nearly scored moments later.

An aggressive U.S. forecheck bore fruit when Dunne grabbed the puck behind the net and flung a backhander that deflected in off Swiss blueliner Stefanie Wetli's skate at 14:08. Yes, the unassisted goal required a lucky bounce, but the U.S. was making its own luck.

The U.S. took a 3-0 lead at 1:17 of the third period, fueled by another great Harvey play. She circled the Swiss net and slid the puck into the right faceoff to Heise, who promptly sent it to Bilka in front for the goal.

"Getting in on the hunt, our forecheck is so hard to play against, and I think that's what's given us a lot of success," said U.S. defender Megan Keller.

Moments later, Hayley Scamurra thought she had scored her third goal of the tournament after converting her own big rebound in the high slot. But the Swiss challenged the play for goaltender interference, as Dunne had made contact with Braendli, and the goal was called back.

Just past the four-minute mark of the third, Switzerland's Laura Zimmermann was denied by Philps' glove on a 2-on-1 rush attempt.

Carpenter, sent in alone on a breakaway by Knight, made it 4-0 U.S. at 6:34. Just over a minute later, Carpenter played the set-up role on Harvey's 5-0 goal, as the slick blueliner jumped in from the left point and beat Braendli with a forehand deke.

"Our defence are so talented," Heise said. "KK Harvey showed that out there. She can dangle all the way down the ice and put it in the back of the net."

With under two minutes left, U.S. coach John Wroblewski put in third-string goalie Ava McNaughton for her first taste of Olympic action.

There were 11,132 fans on hand at the Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena, and Keller appreciated the great support: "To have family, friends, fans from the host country, whoever it may be, it's fun to play in front of these crowds."

The Swiss lost their three previous Olympic games with the U.S. 6-0 (2006), 9-0 (2014), and 8-0 (2022). In the last meeting in Beijing, Knight, Kelly Pannek, and Jesse Compher led the way with two goals apiece.