Abbey Murphy recorded a natural hat trick to lead the U.S. women's hockey team past Canada 4-1 in the first of four Rivalry Series games leading up to the Milan Cortina Olympics.

Murphy, a fifth-year University of Minnesota forward, scored twice in the second period (both one-timers on passes from former Gopher teammate Taylor Heise), then again in the third period (another Heise assist) in Cleveland. 

Murphy put up the first hat trick in a U.S.-Canada game since Hilary Knight in the 2023 World Championship final.

Heise had a four-point night Thursday. She potted the other U.S. goal in the first period, redirecting a Laila Edwards shot past Canadian goalie Ève Gascon.

The U.S. has won three consecutive games over Canada dating back to last April's world championship tournament. It's the Americans' first win streak over the Canadians since November-December 2023.

Murphy was the youngest forward on the 2022 U.S. Olympic team at age 19. She went from playing the fewest minutes of the healthy American forwards in Beijing (9:15 per game) to averaging 15:05 at April's worlds.

Heise, fueled after being cut from the 2022 Olympic team, has become one of the world's best players. She was the world championship MVP later in 2022, then the No. 1 overall pick in the inaugural PWHL Draft in 2023.

Canada's lone goal came on a Sarah Fillier power-play rebound past U.S. goalie Aerin Frankel in the first period. Fillier was the youngest player on Canada's 2022 Olympic champion team (age 21), then was the 2023 World Championship MVP.

Canada played without three of its biggest stars as it evaluates other players for potential Olympic roster spots. Missing were forward Brianne Jenner, the 2022 Olympic MVP, forward Sarah Nurse, the leading points scorer at the 2022 Olympics, and Ann-Renée Desbiens, its No. 1 goalie each of the last five years. All three still could be key players at the Olympics.

The U.S. and Canada meet again Saturday in Buffalo (6 p.m. ET, NHL Network), then play in Edmonton on Dec. 10 and 13.

Also, the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic hockey jerseys for 2026 were unveiled during the first intermission.