Women’s hockey takeaways: Poulin’s historic comeback helps Canada rout Germany

Marie-Philip Poulin didn’t just make her return to the Olympics tournament on Saturday — she also made history.

Captain Clutch scored her 18th goal on the power play to tie Hayley Wickenheiser as Canada’s all-time leading Olympic goal scorer.

Fuelled by Poulin’s return to the ice, Canada delivered a 5-1 win in its first-ever meeting with Germany at the Olympics to earn a spot in the semifinals.

The defending Olympic champions played with fervour in front of a new netminder. Emerance Maschmeyer took her place between the pipes for the first time since the opening game of the tournament, marking just one of a few lineup changes head coach Troy Ryan tested against the Germans. The other key change came up front on the top line as Daryl Watts and Sarah Fillier slotted in beside Poulin.

Switzerland will play Canada in the semifinals after it beat Finland 1-0 on Saturday afternoon. Canada recorded a shutout against the Swiss in its opening game of the tournament.

Here’s our takeaways from Canada’s first elimination game at Milano Cortina 2026.

MPP makes immediate impact in return

Before the greatest player in the game made history, she proved a little pain wouldn’t stop her dominance.

On Friday, Poulin spoke about her right leg injury saying, “it did hurt, still hurts, but it’s part of it.” 

On Saturday, the hurt barely showed.

About five minutes into the game, Poulin was set up around the perimeter as Canada hunted for a power-play goal, when Renata Fast was knocked off the puck by Germany’s Laura Kluge. The Boston Fleet forward powered down the ice on a short-handed breakaway. Hot on her heels, however, was Canada’s captain. Poulin’s full-throttle backcheck didn’t just save a potential goal. It was also a stark reminder of the irreplaceable impact she has on this team.

Poulin ended the game with 12:41 minutes of ice time, two shots and her 18th career Olympic goal.

Watts, Fillier file into top line

Poulin’s return was punctuated by two new linemates: Watts and Fillier. Both have consistently shown up as Canada’s best players so far these Games.

Fillier netted the third goal of the day with a hard power-play snipe off a Watts pass from the right side of the net that bounced in off of the goaltender’s pads.

Both wingers assisted on Poulin’s historic goal.

Watts is at her first Olympic Games and already made a statement with four points in four games. In Saturday’s win, the 26-year-old increased that total to six when she added two assists. Similarly, Fillier added a goal and an assist on Saturday and also has six points over the course of the tournament.

Canada’s chances of defending its gold medal will come down to this top line and specifically the contributions these young forwards can make on offence. Although a large portion of the U.S. squad is younger than Watts and Fillier, these two make up the youthful end of Canada’s roster and will be critical goal scorers as the red and white progress into the playoffs.

Getting pensive about the power play

There’s a lot to reflect on after Germany totalled seven penalties and gave lots of opportunity to Canada’s power play.

First, a look at the positives. Canada scored two power-play goals — one stunner from Fillier and then of course the record-breaking final snipe from Poulin. There has been a massive overall improvement to Canada’s power play in even the last few months. Its player advantage was a pain point as recently as the Rivalry Series, yet so far this tournament the Canadians lead all teams with seven power-play goals.

However, even with a dominant win, Canada must take better care of the details.

Less than five minutes into the game, a poor pass and weak control of the puck let Germany’s Kluge take off on a breakaway that, without a powerful backcheck from Poulin, could have tied the score.

To compound the issue, that mistake didn’t just happen once. Later, in the third period, Canada was again setting up a push on the power play when another pass was intercepted. Germany’s Franziska Feldmeier stole the puck for a short-handed breakaway and her country’s first goal against the Canadians on the world’s biggest stage.

After Ann-Renee Desbiens received three consecutive starts over four days, Canada switched it up for the quarterfinals.

For the first time since Canada’s opening game of the tournament, Maschmeyer received the start in net. In that first game against Switzerland, she recorded her second-career Olympic shutout. In Saturday’s contest against Germany, the 31-year-old made 10 saves and gave up just one goal, which was scored on a breakaway.

Looking ahead, Canada’s goalie decision is one of the biggest questions left looming. Prior to Tuesday’s 5-0 drubbing at the hands of the U.S., Desbiens had never lost an Olympic game. But, on the more recent national stage, she’s run into trouble.

Canada’s preliminary match against the States was supposed to be a confidence booster for the veteran, but ended short when she was pulled from the crease early.

Will Canada ride with Maschmeyer for the rest of the tournament after giving her the quarterfinals? Or, was that decision made to give Desbiens a rest before it was time to call on the usual No. 1 again?