The USA women's hockey team came out on top over the weekend, kicking off the four-game 2025 Rivalry Series against Canada by dominating their northern neighbors, outscoring them by an impressive 10-2 margin across the pair's first two games.
US forward Abbey Murphy emerged as a series star, scoring a natural hat trick in the team's 4-1 win in Cleveland on Thursday — the first three-goal turn by a USA player against Canada since team captain Hilary Knight did so at the 2023 IIHF Women's World Championship.
"I told [Murphy], 'You set the bar pretty high,'" said Knight, who added her own hat trick to the mix in Saturday's 6-1 victory in Buffalo.
"I love how we showed up," the 36-year-old continued. "We've been working like dogs since August and to get rewarded for our work, and see situations that we need to work on."
Notably, while the USA brought their entire 2025 world championship-winning roster to the first two Rivalry Series games, Canada chose to evaluate some fresh faces while resting a number of standout veterans, including their No. 1 goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens — a fact that should temper the sting of adding two big losses to their now four-game skid against the US.
With women's hockey taking over Milan at the 2026 Winter Olympics in February, the last two 2025 Rivalry Series matchups will more likely see both sides testing their final rosters for Italy.
How to watch the final games in the 2025 Rivalry Series
Canada will welcome the USA for the last two matchups in the 2025 Rivalry Series, with the puck dropping in Edmonton, Alberta, at 9 PM ET for both the December 10th and 13th clashes.
Both games will air live on the NHL Network.
Montréal Victoire captain Marie-Philip Poulin has won the 2024/25 PWHL Billie Jean King MVP award, the league announced at its end-of-season ceremony on Wednesday.
Poulin beat out Toronto Sceptres defender Renata Fast and former Boston Fleet forward Hilary Knight for the honor, becoming the PWHL's first-ever two-time MVP finalist in the process.
The prolific forward never saw three straight games without a point this season, leading the league in scoring with 19 goals on the season — a tally that comprised an impressive 25.7% of Montréal's 2024/25 goals.
The awards cap a banner year for the Canadian national, who also picked up 2025 IIHF Player of the Year as well as MVP honors at April's IIHF Women's World Championship.
Wednesday's win also keeps the PWHL MVP award in Canada, with Poulin joining inaugural winner and Toronto Sceptres forward Natalie Spooner as the league's first two top individual honorees.
Along with her MVP trophy, the 34-year-old also snagged this season's Forward of the Year honor, while Fast scored the PWHL Defender of the Year title.
Montréal ultimately claimed the most hardware of the night, with manager Kori Cheverie taking home the season's Coach of the Year title while Poulin's Victoire teammate Ann-Renée Desbiens earned the Goaltender of the Year award.
As for the 2024/25 season's best debutant, last year's No. 1 draftee Sarah Fillier snagged the Rookie of the Year title following a stellar first pro season with the New York Sirens.