Idaho’s Hilary Knight scores twice in U.S. hockey win. Her mom wants her to ‘smile more’
It’s safe to say that Hilary Knight is all business at the Winter Olympics.
So much so that her mom wants to make sure she’s still enjoying herself.
Knight, of Sun Valley, scored two goals Sunday to help the U.S. women’s hockey team rout Switzerland by a score of 8-0. The veteran forward, competing in her fourth Olympics, now has five points in these Winter Games in China, including three goals. Her first came in Saturday’s win over the Russian Olympic Committee team.
After the victory, Knight was interviewed on TV, and USA Network piped in a feed to a watch party in Salt Lake City, where Cynthia Knight and others in the hockey community had gathered to watch the game.
“We really love all the energy you guys are showing on the ice,” Cynthia Knight told her 32-year-old daughter. “ ... But we need you to smile more.”
It looked as if Hilary smiled at the comment, but she was wearing a mask while following COVID-19 safety protocols, something the athletes are supposed to do when not competing.
Unfortunately for Cynthia Knight, things just get more serious now. Team USA has rolled through its first three games against outmatched Finland, Team Russia and Switzerland by a combined score of 18-2, and the Americans have outshot their opponents 177-36. But up next is Canada, the other women’s hockey superpower, at 9:10 p.m. Mountain time Monday.
The U.S. and Canada are expected to meet again in the gold-medal game, as they have in five of the six Olympics since women’s hockey became part of the competition. Team USA is the defending champion, having defeated Canada in a shootout in 2018 in South Korea.
That game ended regulation and overtime in a 2-2 tie. The first American goal was scored by Knight, and the second came from Monique Lamoureux-Morando, who is now a color commentator in the TV booth. Coincidentally, with her two first-period goals Sunday, Knight tied Lamoureux-Morando with nine career Olympic goals, ranking No. 5 on the U.S. list.
“You have to take whatever opportunities present themselves,” Knight said in her TV interview. “Obviously, the puck doesn’t go in unless you shoot it.”
Monday night’s game against Canada is on USA Network. Team USA’s next game after that will be a quarterfinal on Friday or Saturday, depending on its seeding.
Idaho Steelheads have ties in Olympics
Two former members of Boise’s minor league hockey team are playing in these Winter Games, according to press releases from the ECHL squad.
Goaltender Pat Nagle is a member of the U.S. team that will begin play Thursday morning at 6:10 Mountain time against China. The game will be televised on USA Network, and if Nagle gets the call in net, he will face another former Steelhead: defenseman Zach Yuen, who is on Team China.
Nagle, 34, was a member of the Steelies during the 2013-14 season. He had a 23-14-4 record with a 2.73 goals-against average, helping Idaho to a 39-win season that ended in the Western Conference semifinals.
Yuen, 28, played 51 games with the Steelheads in the 2015-16 season, and tallied three goals and 17 assists.
The men’s teams were expected to be populated by NHL stars in the Olympics for the first time since 2014, but the league decided its players would not participate after COVID-19 greatly disrupted the regular season. This weekend was the NHL’s All-Star break.
Idaho native earns high finish in skiathlon
Scott Patterson, 29, a cross country skier who was born in McCall and then grew up in Alaska, earned the best men’s finish ever for the U.S. in the 30-kilometer skiathlon Sunday morning, coming in 11th and missing the top 10 by just 3 seconds.
The skiathlon is 15k of classic style and then 15k of freestyle. Patterson was in 36th place after the classic part of the race but rallied in the freestyle.
“It is a good sign for my fitness, and it adds a little bit of confidence and also gets a few of those nerves out of the way,” Patterson told U.S. Ski & Snowboard. “It’s nice to have a good one to start.”
Patterson’s sister, Caitlin, is also a member of the U.S. cross country ski team. Both are competing in their second straight Olympics.