UW connection strong in opener
Ex-Badgers lead U.S. women past Finland
“We’ve got a lot of great teams in this tournament. We can’t look all the way to the gold medal game.” Hilary Knight U.S. women’s hockey star
Noora Raty has been trying to block lasers from Hilary Knight for nearly a decade now, going back to when Raty was a star goaltender for the Minnesota Golden Gophers and Knight was setting scoring records at Wisconsin.
So on the play that pushed the United States past Finland in the Winter Olympics hockey opener for both teams on Sunday at Kwandong Hockey Centre, Raty knew where her focus had to be. Wisconsin product Brianna Decker had just battled hard along the boards to keep the puck in the offensive zone, with time getting short on a second-period U.S. power play. The score was tied 1-1. Decker got the puck to Knight, her teammate for two years in Madison and on the 2014 Olympic team that won silver in Sochi.
“Decks carried the puck over the blue line and got us in the zone and created a lot of space and forced that defenseman back a little bit,” Knight recalled after the 3-1 victory.
So now it was Knight, one of the most feared offensive players in the world, playing in her third Olympics, bearing down on Finnish goaltending star Raty, with a defenseman to her right and teammate Kendall Coyne to the right of that. Decker’s effort had created a 2-on-1. Raty, the best player on the ice in a game that could have been far more lopsided, zoned in on
Knight.
“Knighter got there on the corner and I needed to commit to her because she’s the best shot in the world,” Raty said. “For once, she actually passed. And then hats off to Coyner, she went top shelf. Really nice goal.”
Even in defeat, Raty could have a little fun. And dole out some credit. The Americans certainly gave her plenty after she made 39 saves – the U.S. added an empty netter for the final score – and survived rush after rush in an overwhelming second period that flipped the game.
It was 1-0 Finland after a backbreaking goal with 5.8 seconds left in the first period, and it wasn’t as thoroughly dominant as some may have expected from a U.S. team expected to battle Canada for gold once again, but it was a good first test passed.
“It’s an absolutely great way to start, because you want it to be tough,” U.S. coach Robb Stauber said after making his Olympic head coaching debut.
“I think the landscape of women’s hockey has changed a lot,” Knight said. “Finland’s a great team. We’ve got a lot of great teams in this tournament. We can’t look all the way to the gold medal game. It’s every single step we take.”
And this one, as usual, had Wisconsin fingerprints all over it. Decker and Knight did their thing to set up the game-winning goal. Madison native – and former Golden Gopher – Amanda Kessel saw 15:13 of ice time. And of course, captain Meghan Duggan did her thing. Duggan, who won the Patty Kazmaier Award as the top college hockey player in the nation as a Wisconsin senior in 2011, had a crucial blocked shot to help Team USA kill off a late penalty up 2-1.
Like Knight, this is Duggan’s third Olympics. It was silver in Sochi and in Vancouver in 2010, and the idea is to turn that to gold. But the Americans must build to that opportunity, and a challenging first time out doesn’t have to be a bad thing.
“There are things we can work on and clean up,” Knight said. “But we’re extremely excited with the ‘W’ and I’m extremely happy and excited for all the first timers who won their first Olympic game today.”