The U.S. Women’s hockey team has scored 31 goals over the six games it has played during the Winter Olympics in Milan. At the same time, it has allowed just one goal in amassing an Olympic record-setting five consecutive shutouts. In the tournament’s gold medal game on Thursday, the U.S. women’s team faces off against Canada, which has won 5 gold medals in the sport, but was crushed by the U.S. 5-0  in the final game of the preliminary round last week.

The U.S., which has won twice, is the only other team besides Canada to win a gold medal in women’s ice hockey, and the team seeks to make it three gold medals by netting a win against its northern neighbor Thursday.

And as the team prepares for that showdown with Team Canada, one can’t help but wonder if this is the moment in the U.S. where women’s professional hockey takes off.

The Women’s National Basketball Association, or WNBA, has been having a moment — although that momentum is threatened by a potential work stoppage that threatens the 2026 season. The National Women’s Soccer League has seen explosive growth, with three times as many people attending games now as five years ago. Given the increasing appetite for women’s professional sports, and the U.S. women’s hockey team’s dominance in Milan, this would seem to be the perfect time for women’s professional hockey to take hold. And the women avenging their 2022 loss to Canada and winning gold Thursday would be a big boost.