U.S. women roll on, Canada is up next
Gangneung, South Korea — Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson can't remember ever scoring twice on the same shift. The three-time Olympian looking for her first gold medal is just happy to give the Americans a bit of a boost. She did it in Olympic record fashion. Lamoureux-Davidson had the fastest back-to-back goals in Olympic history, scoring 6 seconds apart in the second period as the United States shut out the Russians 5-0 on Tuesday night.
"I don't know if I'll ever come close to that again," Lamoureux-Davidson said. "But we'll see."
Lamoureux-Davidson not only topped Canada's Caroline Oullette, who scored twice in 16 seconds on Feb. 11, 2006, in a 16-0 rout of Italy at Turin, but also the men's mark of 8 seconds apart held by Carl Goran Oberg of Sweden in 1960 at Squaw Valley.
Kacey Bellamy, who scored the first goal of the game off a pass from Lamoureux-Davidson, called the record incredible.
"She works so hard on and off the ice, she deserves it and gave us a really good momentum boost ... obviously in the second period leading into the third," Bellamy said.
With the win, the Americans remained undefeated going into their early Olympic showdown today with Canada, which is also 2-0.
The Americans won eight of the last 10 world championships, including an overtime win over Canada last spring for their fourth straight title . But they are at the Pyeongchang Games trying to end a 20-year gold medal drought. The last time these teams met in the Olympics, Canada rallied from an 0-2 deficit to win its fourth straight gold in overtime in 2014 in Sochi .
No medal will be on the line today, just positioning for the semifinals. That made tuning up the offense a must for the Americans with Canada routing its first two opponents 9-1 after a 4-1 win over Finland earlier Tuesday.
Gigi Marvin and Hannah Brandt each had a goal. Hensley, who started the U.S. win over Canada in the 2017 world championship, made 13 saves in her Olympic debut. U.S. coach Robb Stauber rotated his goalies, putting Hensley in net after playing Maddie Rooney in a 3-1 opening win over Finland.
The Americans had played the Russians in the Olympics only once before, and they routed them 13-0 in 2010 at Vancouver setting a single-game record for the U.S. in the games.
This time, they played athletes from Russia competing under the Olympic flag after the country was banned from the games for revelations of a massive doping operation. The women's hockey team is playing without six players from the world's fourth-ranked team a year ago, though the Russians had a pocket of vocal cheerleaders on hand.
In the mix
In a first for the Olympics, Canadian curlers Kaitlyn Lawes and John Morris won gold in the debut of mixed doubles with a 10-3 victory over the Swiss pair of Jenny Perret and Martin Rios.
Lawes and Morris were too good in the mixed doubles curling final, with Switzerland conceding in the sixth end of the match after missing an opportunity for a takeout with its last shot of the end. That gave Canada another two points. Seeing no way to come back from the deficit, the Swiss ended the game.
The team from Russia picked up bronze with Anastasia Bryzgalova tumbling onto the ice but bouncing back with teammate — and husband — Aleksandr Krushelnitckii for an 8-4 victory over Norway. Bryzgalova was shuffling backward in the third end when she stumbled over a stone and had her legs fly out from under her and she crashed hard onto her backside. The spill drew gasps from the stunned crowd and left a stunned Bryzgalova embarrassed for a moment.
Dutch double
Kjeld Nuis led teammate Patrick Roest in a 1-2 finish in the 1,500 meters to give Netherlands four wins from four finals in speedskating at the Olympic Oval.
The Dutch have now won eight of 12 medals at the Pyeongchang Games, keeping them on the stunning medal pace set at the 2014 Sochi Games when they finished with 23 out of 36.
Cross-country
The cross-country classic sprint titles went to Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo of Norway and Stina Nilsson of Sweden.
Klaebo won gold in the men's cross-country sprint, with Frederico Pellegrino of Italy getting the better of a photo finish to take silver ahead of Russian competitor Alexander Bolshunov.
Nilsson won the women's cross-country sprint. Maiken Caspersen of Norway was second and Russian skier Yulia Belorukova took bronze.
Yet again, there was no medal for the United States. Jessica Diggins placed sixth, failing in her quest to become the first American woman to win an Olympic medal in cross-country skiing.
Geisenberger's gold
Natalie Geisenberger successfully defended her women's luge title in a 1-2 finish for Germany.
Geisenberger is the third woman to win consecutive Olympic luge golds, joining fellow German greats Steffi Martin Walter and Sylke Otto.
Hot water
Japanese short-track speedskater Kei Saito tested positive for the banned diuretic Acetalozamide in the first doping case of the Pyeongchang Games.
Saito, a reserve on the 5,000-meter relay team, said in a statement that he was "extremely shocked" by the results and has "never used anabolic steroids." He did not race in any event before the test result from a pre-competition sample was confirmed.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport said Saito "accepted on a voluntary basis to be provisionally suspended and to leave the Olympic Village." Yasuo Saito, vice president of the Japanese Olympic Committee, said the JOC would work to help the 21-year-old skater clear his name after the Olympics.