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02/07 14:13 CST Hilary Knight ties US Olympic goal record in 5-0 win over
Finland team coming off stomach virus
Hilary Knight ties US Olympic goal record in 5-0 win over Finland team coming
off stomach virus
By JOHN WAWROW
AP Hockey Writer
MILAN (AP) --- Every goal still feels special for Hilary Knight, no matter how
many USA Hockey's most decorated woman has scored in her record-setting career.
Saturday night was no different for the 36-year-old appearing in her U.S.
women's hockey-best fifth Olympics.
With U.S. Vice President JD Vance and family cheering along, Knight scored to
tie the U.S. Olympic women's hockey career goal mark, and the Americans wore
down a Finland opponent that spent much of the week dealing with a stomach
virus in a 5-0 win at the Milan Cortina Games.
"I just love scoring and just the pure elation of finding the back of the net,"
Knight said. "It's just a little kid moment that when you score it's pure
excitement and it's fun to celebrate."
The goal scored 9:17 into the second period that put the U.S. up 4-0 was
Knight's 14th to match the record shared by Natalie Darwitz and Katie King.
"Those are some legendary players, and just to be in the same sentence as them
is super special," said Knight, whose 29 career points in the Winter Games are
only three back of matching Jenny Potter on the U.S. list.
Defender Megan Keller had a goal and two assists, while Alex Carpenter, Taylor
Heise and Abbey Murphy also scored. Aerin Frankel stopped 11 shots for her
first shutout in just her second career Olympic game.
The tournament favorite Americans (2-0) improved to 11-0 in Olympic meetings
against Finland, and had just about everything going in their favor on Saturday.
The Finns returned to the ice as a full team for the first time since last
being together at practice on Tuesday. That night, four players developed
symptoms of a norovirus. Two days later, Finland's 23-player roster was down to
eight forwards and two goalies, prompting Olympic officials to postpone the
team's tournament opener against Canada to Feb. 12.
After canceling their morning skate on Saturday, the Finns took the ice six
hours later with a full 22-player contingent.
"We know that the U.S. is a really good team. And we knew that it's going to be
a tough battle for us," Jenni Hiirikoski said. "But I'm proud of how we were
battling out there. And it's something we will keep building."
The Americans are tough to handle at any time, and it was a lot to ask the
Finns to do so given their circumstances.
Finland came out with speed but showed signs of rustiness while struggling to
handle the puck. Petra Nieminen had it slide off her stick on a potential break
two minutes in. The Finns eventually wore down in managing nine shots through
two periods and 11 overall.
Goalie Sanni Ahola stopped 44 shots overall, and kept the Finns in the game
through a first period in which she stopped 14 of 15 shots. Carpenter was the
only one that beat her with a one-timer from the slot for a power-play goal
with 4:48 left in the period.
"I got a lot of shots, but I enjoyed every moment. I love getting a lot of
shots," Ahola said.
Heise was impressed by Finland's resolve.
"For a group that hasn't really skated together for a few days, I'll give them
credit," Heise said. "We knew that we had to outlast them."
The Americans broke open the game with three goals in the second period.
Knight capped the run by being set up to the left of the net. She paused, then
spun toward the net and banked a shot in off of Ahola's blocker.
"She deserves all the success in the world, especially who she is off the ice,"
Keller said, noting the entire team was aware of Knight's milestone. "So we'll
be really excited when she gets that next one."
In other Group A play, Canada was scheduled to open the tournament facing
Switzerland, which also had a stomach flu scare. The Swiss team skipped the
opening ceremony, and spent Friday night in isolation after one player showed
symptoms of the norovirus.
The player was cleared on Saturday.
Vance returned to the Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena for a second time after he
and his family also attended the Americans' tournament-opening 5-1 win over
Czechia on Thursday.
Vance sat with his youngest child, daughter Mirabel, on his lap. Usha Vance,
wearing a sweatshirt with "USA" in big letters, clapped along to Queen's "We
Will Rock You," before the second period started. The vice president and his
wife stood and clapped when the U.S. scored a goal. They were back on their
feet cheering a few minutes later when the Americans scored again.
Among his entourage were hockey's twin sisters Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and
Monique Lamoureux-Morando, members of the U.S. gold medal-winning team at the
2018 Winter Games. And the group was joined by influencer and boxer Jake Paul.
In earlier Group B play, Thea Johansson scored twice and added an assist, and
Sweden improved to 2-0 with a 6-1 win over host Italy (1-1).
Also, Laura Kluge had a goal and three assists, Nicola Hadraschek scored twice
and added an assist, and Germany (1-1) defeated Japan 5-2.
___
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
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