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

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MILAN (AP) — Hilary Knight scored to tie the U.S. Olympic women's hockey career goal record, 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 on Saturday.

With U.S. Vice President JD Vance and family cheering along, 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.

On Friday, coach Tero Lehtera vowed his team would play the Americans even if it meant having a minimum five forwards and a goalie. After canceling their morning skate on Saturday, the Finns took the ice six hours later with a full 22-player contingent.

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 wjth a one-timer from the slot for a power-play goal with 4:48 left in the period.

The U.S. then broke open the game with three goals through the first 9:17 of 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.

The goal was Knight’s second of the tournament and 14th in her USA Hockey-record fifth Olympic Games. The 36-year-old tied the U.S. record for goals shared by Natalie Darwitz and Katie King, and Knight’s 29 career points are only three back of matching Jenny Potter on the U.S. list.

Finland didn't manage its first shot on net in the third period — and 10th overall — until the 11-minute mark, when Sanni Vanhanen's snapper was gloved by Frankel.

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). Franziska Stocker scored for the Italians.

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. Trailing 5-0 through 31 minutes, Yumeka Wajima and Mei Miura scored 22 seconds apart late in the second period for Japan (1-1).

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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics