U.S. women’s hockey team wins gold, with a hero from Sun Valley, Idaho

Sun Valley resident Hilary Knight scored her first Olympic goal 16 years ago in Vancouver.

She scored one Thursday in Milan, Italy, that could be her last. It was record-setting, and it will never be forgotten in U.S. women’s hockey history.

Knight’s deflection with 2:04 remaining found the back of the net and sent the gold-medal game against Canada at the Winter Olympics into overtime. U.S. defender Megan Keller then scored a little more than 4 minutes into OT to give the Americans a 2-1 win and their third Olympic gold medal in the sport.

They won in 1998 in Nagano, Japan, and in 2018 in South Korea, edging arch-rival Canada both times.

Knight’s goal was her 15th in the Olympics and it was her 33rd all-time point, both U.S. records.

“I’m just happy to have a gold medal,” Knight said in a TV interview after the game. “Oh, my gosh, this feels amazing.”

A five-time Olympian, Knight was coy when asked whether this was her final go-round at the Winter Games, saying, “We’ll see.” She defied the odds by being the captain of the U.S. team at age 36; she could defy them again if she is on the team at age 40.

The U.S. team smothered Canada in the qualifying round, winning 5-0. But this game was way different, and Canada, which has five gold medals in women’s hockey to the Americans’ three, wasn’t going down without a fight.

The Canadians struck with a shorthanded goal from Kristin O’Neill early in the second period, and that held up until Knight deflected a shot from the point by Laila Edwards to tie the score. The U.S. team had pulled goalie Aerin Frankel, who made 30 saves, for an extra attacker.

In overtime, which is played 3-on-3 rather than 5-on-5, Keller took a long pass from Taylor Heise, deked past a Canadian defender and lifted a shot over the pads and under the blocker of goalie Ann-Renee Desbiens for the game-winner, setting off a wild celebration.

“We came out a little slow … started to pick up momentum in the second period … and then the third, when you have a one-goal deficit against Canada, a great team, you have to find the back of the net,” Knight said.

“Just fortunate that we have an amazing squad to be able to get the job done.”

It was a landmark Olympics in Italy for Knight, who got engaged to partner Brittany Bowe — a U.S. speedskater — the day before the gold-medal game.

This story was originally published February 19, 2026 at 3:01 PM.