Hilary Knight ties another USA Olympic mark in historic 5-0 win over Canada

The U.S. Olympic women’s hockey team put a historic drubbing on their heated rivals Canada in their final group play game Tuesday, but the game also marked another record-setting moment for Team USA captain and out Olympian Hilary Knight.

Knight assisted on defender Caroline Harvey’s opening goal in the first period of the U.S.A.’s 5-0 win over the Maple Leaf contingent, pushing the five-time Olympian into a tie with four-time Olympian Jenny Potter for the U.S. Olympic record for most points all-time (32) in women’s hockey.

It was the second all-time U.S. Olympic mark Knight has tied during Team USA’s undefeated run through group play at the Milan Games. The 2018 Olympic gold medalist tied Natalie Darwitz and Kathryn King for the most all-time goals by an American woman in Olympic play in the U.S.A.’s victory over Finland on Saturday.

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The win itself marked an Olympic first as the Canadian women were shut out for the first time in Olympic history and the 5-0 final was the largest margin of victory ever in an Olympic matchup between the U.S. and Canada.

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The absence of Canadian captain Marie-Philip Poulin didn’t help matters for the defending Olympic gold medalists.

The out LGBTQ five-time Olympian and second all-time leading goal scorer in Olympic women’s hockey history missed Tuesday game after exiting Canada’s win over Czechia in the first period with a lower-body injury on Monday.

Knight is all too familiar with how Poulin’s absence from the ice affects Team Canada.

“That team, without her, it looks completely different. She’s one of those generational talents, someone that’s hard to play against, and finds herself in awesome positions towards the end of the game,” Knight told Time Magazine earlier this month. “If you take her out of the equation, last 10 years, I don’t think Canada is capable of doing what they have done. That’s a testament to what she brings to the table and her caliber of play.”

U.S. defender Laila Edwards scored her own groundbreaking Olympic moment during the blowout win as well. The first Black woman to represent the U.S. in Olympic women’s hockey became the first Black woman to score a goal for Team USA in Olympic history with a calculated slapshot that ran the tally to 5-0 midway through the third period.

Knight’s Seattle Torrent teammate Hannah Bilka led all scorers with two goals.

With group play wrapped up, Team USA enters the knockout stage of the tournament as the number-one seed thanks to a mix of offensive aggressiveness and brick wall defense. The U.S. women outscored opponents 20-1 in group play, with the lone goal against coming in their opener against Czechia.

Knight and her crew will open the knockout stage with a quarterfinal matchup against host nation Italy, the only team of the eight quarterfinalists not to feature an out LGBTQ athlete on its roster, on Friday.

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