Hilary Knight had a goal and an assist, Nicole Hensley stopped 12 shots and the United States women’s hockey team beat the Russians 5-0 Saturday night in a preliminary-round game at the Beijing Olympics. (Watch some of the scoring below.)
Savannah Harmon had a goal and two assists for the defending Olympic champions, who improved to 2-0 and next play Switzerland (0-2) on Sunday.
The Americans outshot the ROC 62-12 but had difficulty finishing with top-line center Brianna Decker watching on crutches after breaking her ankle in a tournament-opening win over Finland.
ROC’s Maria Sorokina was exceptional in stopping 37 of the first 39 shots she faced, and 38 overall, before the U.S. finally broke the game open by scoring three times over a five-minute span. The run was capped by Alex Carpenter scoring with 11:16 remaining and led to Sorokina being yanked in favor of Daria Gredzen, who stopped 19 shots.
Grace Zumwinkle and Jesse Compher also scored for the U.S. in a game played before a small but vocally pro-Russian crowd.
The U.S. has yet to allow a goal in three Olympic meetings against a Russia-based team. Add in world championship matchups, and the U.S. extended its string to eight consecutive shutouts.