Winter Olympics: Idaho star helps U.S. hockey team win again, passes idol in scoring

Sun Valley resident Hilary Knight continued her ascent in the U.S. women’s hockey record books Saturday at the Winter Olympics.

Knight, a 5-foot-11 forward playing on Team USA’s top line, had a goal and an assist in a 5-0 win over the Russian Olympic Committee team. With 20 career points in the Olympics — this is Knight’s fourth Winter Games appearance — she moved past Cammi Granato, her idol, into fourth place on the career scoring list for the U.S.

Knight had an assist on Savannah Harmon’s goal to open the scoring, and netted her goal on a deflection off a pass from Harmon to make it 2-0 in the second period.

“Whenever you can make it messy in front, put pucks on net, you get an opportunity to score,” Knight said in a TV interview after the second period. “We’re not getting the puck that we’d like, but you have to just keep shooting.”

The U.S. outshot the Russians 62-12 but didn’t break the game open until getting three goals in the third period. The Americans outshot Finland 52-12 in a 5-2 win in their Olympics opener.

Team USA plays Switzerland at 6:10 a.m. Mountain time Sunday, and then finishes group play Monday night at 9:10 MT with a game against archrival Canada. Both games are live on USA Network and Peacock.

The U.S. and Canada have met for the gold medal in every Olympics that has had women’s hockey, starting in 1998, except one: the 2006 Games. In 2018, the U.S. won the gold medal over Canada in a dramatic shootout.

This story was originally published February 5, 2022 at 11:41 AM.