Canada and the U.S. will meet in women’s hockey, a possible preview of the gold medal game.

It is not the gold medal game, but it very well might be a preview of it.

Canada and the United States, the most potent teams in the Olympic women’s hockey tournament, will meet Tuesday afternoon in their first matchup of these Games. So far, the teams have steamrollered their opponents in Beijing, stoking the quadrennial question of whether the sport is any nearer to parity than it was when it got its Olympic start in 1998.

The stakes in Tuesday’s game are limited to seeding, since all Group A teams — Canada, Finland, a Russian squad, Switzerland and the United States — automatically advance to elimination play. But the matchup will still be a valuable chance for the Americans and Canadians to refine their skills and scout rivals before the most intense phases of the Games.

“Our team is right where we need to be at the right time,” said Amanda Kessel, an American forward. “We had a bunch of games canceled against them the past few months, so we have been waiting for that day to get another chance to play them.”

The teams staged some exhibition games in North America last year, but the tour’s final three games were canceled as the Omicron variant surged and caseloads swelled. Canada went 4-2 in the games that were played; half of them were settled in overtime.

No two countries are as formidable in women’s hockey as Canada and the United States, the only two teams ever to capture Olympic gold medals in the sport. The Americans won the Olympic tournament at the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

But while both teams have largely cruised through the preliminary round, there have been trouble spots and twists. The United States lost its star center, Brianna Decker, for the Games in its opening game against Finland.

And the Canadians endured a 65-minute delay on Monday, when a dispute over coronavirus tests for the Russian squad eventually led the teams to play the game in masks, at least at first.

Canada’s and the United States’ opponents have often looked on in awe, as they did before the tournament began in Beijing last week.

“As an athlete, you always want to go for the gold,” Andrea Brandli, a Swiss goalie, said in an interview last year. “At some point, you also have to be logical.”

So far in preliminary round play, Canada has scored 29 goals and allowed just three. The Americans have recorded 18 goals and surrendered two.

The game will be played at 11:10 p.m. Eastern time on Monday and be televised in the United States on USA Network.