Hilary Knight ties US Olympic goal record in 5-0 win over Finland team coming off stomach virus

MILAN — 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 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.

''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.

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.

Canada opens with win over Switzerland

In other Group A play, Natalie Spooner, Sarah Fillier and Julia Gosling scored power-play goals, and Daryl Watts also scored in defending Olympic champion Canada's 4-0 win over Switzerland. Emerance Maschmeyer stopped six shots — including a one-timer from Alina Muller with 8:40 remaining — in Canada's tournament opener.

Switzerland also had a stomach flu scare following a 4-3 SO win over Czechia. 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.

Group B results

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.

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