The road to gold has finally begun for the U.S. women's hockey team.

On Feb. 5, Team USA faces off against Czechia in a Group A matchup on the first day of the women's Olympic hockey tournament. 

It's been eight long years since the American squad topped the podium in women's hockey and they're clamoring to get there once again. Four-time Olympian Kendall Coyne Schofield said prior to the Games that “a gold medal and gold medal only” is the expectation for the U.S. 

The team is led by captain and five-time Olympian Hilary Knight, who announced that the 2026 Games will be her last and she wants to go out on top.

"Another gold medal would be awesome. I would like to go out from my Olympic career on a high note, sort of that storybook ending," Knight said back in October.

If Knight earns her fifth medal of any color, she’ll tie the record for the most hockey medals ever and her name will forever be etched in the history books.

Laila Edwards will also make history in her Milan Cortina Olympic debut. When the twenty-one-year-old defender steps on the ice for the first time, she will become the first Black woman to ever compete for the U.S. women's hockey team at the Olympics Games.

The U.S. women's hockey team carries 11 players that earned silver at the 2022 Beijing Games and features 21 members of the 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship team.

The Americans have proven they can win on the world's stage and most recently swept Canada in the 2025 Rivalry Series tournament. While it's clear they know how to win, the Olympic tournament is a different type of beast. Victories will come down to execution for the U.S., not just from veterans like Knight and Coyne-Schofield, but also from first timers like Edwards, Taylor Heise and Caroline Harvey. 

Success for the U.S. will also require laser focus on themselves and their strategy. They can't allow teams to take them out of their fast and physical style of play. While emotions will run high throughout the tournament with gold on the line, it's also imperative that Team USA keeps theirs in check, as not to allow a mental edge for opponents.

If the U.S. stays locked in and is able to utilize all parts of its extremely versatile and talented roster, the possibilities seem infinite.

"If you're white-knuckling now — if it is all about you competing and your effort — you are in trouble. There has to be a lot of muscle memory and confidence that you are ready to go out and perform, rather than just compete," Head coach John Wroblewski said after training at the Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena on Wednesday.

Czechia's Olympic squad is led by eight PWHL stars, including the first overall pick in the 2025 draft, New York Sirens forward Kristyna Kaltounkova.

The Czech women's team appeared in the Olympic tournament for the first time four years ago in Beijing and finished 7th overall out of 10 countries.

Now, they're looking to rise through the ranks at the 2026 Games, as the 4th best team in the world by IIHF rankings. They've finished fourth or better at each of the last four world championships, including back-to-back bronze medals in 2022 and 2023.

The U.S. and Czechia last met in the semifinals of the 2025 World Championships. Team USA won 2-1 and went on to take home gold.

On Wednesday, Kaltounkova said the team is ready to "create some chaos" in Olympic play this time around.

"We play physical. Good things happen. Other teams don't like it, they don't love playing against us. And honestly, that's a good thing for us," Kaltounkova told Reuters. "We can score, we can create great chances, we have great goaltending. So just an all-around strong team."

Faceoff between USA and Czechia is at 10:40 a.m. ET on Feb. 5 and all of the action can be streamed live on NBCOlympics.com and Peacock.

The first game of the women's Olympic hockey tournament begins earlier on Thursday at 6:10 a.m. ET with Sweden vs. Germany in a Group B preliminary contest.

Another Group B matchup follows, as Italy takes on France at 8:40 a.m. ET, before the U.S. takes the ice against Czechia.

Finland vs. Canada wraps up the first day of women's hockey competition at 3:10 p.m. ET.

The full slate of games on Feb. 5 and the live stream information is below: