Sochi 2014 - Womens Gameday 1

USA v Finland 3-1 - A crowd of more than 4,000 hadn't even settled into its seats at the puck-shaped Olympic venue when Noora Raty was beaten on the first shot. After a giveaway at the blue line, Hilary Knight took it in and shot over the goalie's right shoulder. Knight scored 53 seconds into the game and assisted on Alex Carpenter's second-period goal as the United States turned back third-seeded Finland 3-1 to open the women's hockey tournament Saturday at the Sochi Olympics. Jesse Vetter stopped 14 shots for the Americans, who play Switzerland on Monday for a chance to clinch a spot in the semifinals. The Americans and Canadians are overwhelming favorites and Finland were lucky to keept the socre down. That's mostly thanks to Raty, a two-time NCAA champion who went 41-0 at Minnesota in her senior year and made 58 saves to upset the Americans in a tournament in Lake Placid, N.Y., in November. But the three-time Olympian was beaten on the first shot of the Sochi Olympics when a teammate gave the puck away at the blue line and Knight went in all alone.

"I was like, 'All right, here it is. We're going to score here," said Knight, who lives in Sun Valley, Idaho, and played for the University of Wisconsin. "When you get a goal, especially in the first minute, it always deflates the other team."

Finland goalie Raty shut the Americans down for the next 27 minutes before Kelli Stack double-deflected a pass from Megan Bozek, Raty's college roommate, to make it 2-0. The puck bounced off Stack's chest and before it could flutter back to the ice she bunted it out of the air, past Raty and into the net. With 4:01 left in the second period, the U.S. got another good bounce when Carpenter, the daughter of former NHL star Bobby Carpenter, backhanded the puck into the crease. It deflected off a defender and behind Raty, to make it 3-0.

"They got pretty lucky, but you have to earn your luck. I always know that when you face the U.S. or Canada, it's going to be 40 or 50 shots, they are the huge favorites and we are the underdog." Raty Said.

Canada v Switzerland 5-0 - The Canadian women's hockey team enters Sochi as the thee-time defending gold medalist, and they opened their defense in Sochi in fine fashion by blowing out an over-matched Swiss team by a score of 5-0. Canada entered the tournament as favorites, and it was easy to see why from the opening faceoff. Canada didn't score in the first minute like the rival Americans did against Finland, but it took the Canadians just 1:25 to jump out to a 1-0 lead on a goal by Jocelyne Larocque. The goal was a culmination of an opening barrage by the black-clad Canadians who very nearly scored several times in the opening minute. Swiss goalie Florence Schelling of Northeastern University was up to the task, but she received no help whatsoever from her defense. Switzerland's defense fittingly resembled Swiss cheese early in the first period as it failed to clear away a rebound 6:30 in, which allowed Canadian defenseman Tara Watchorn to capitalize. Although Canada continued to pepper Schelling, Switzerland was actually able to settle in a bit after going down 2-0. The Canadians continued to generate pressure on a pair of power plays, however, Schelling was locked in and unwilling to allow her team to face an even larger deficit. By the time the first period mercifully came to an end, the Swiss were somehow still in contention with Canada leading by two goals, but they had been out-shot by an incredible 29-3 margin. The tide seemed to be turning a bit in Switzerland's favor at the start of the second period, especially when the Swiss went on the power play following a high sticking call against Canada's Lauriane Rougeau.

After getting a couple shots on goal, Switzerland made a fatal error by attempting a drop pass in its own zone. Canadian Olympic flag bearer Hayley Wickenheiser jumped all over that mistake and beat Schelling top shelf for a shorthanded goal to extend the lead to three. The 35-year-old Wickenheiser is appearing in her fifth Winter Games, and she extended her career record for Olympic goals with her 17th marker. At 22 years of age Marie-Philip Poulin has already proven to be a big-time player under pressure. She scored both Canadian goals in Team Canada's gold medal win over Team USA in 2010 when she was just 18, and she picked up where she left. Canada's deadly transition game was at work once again, and some nifty passing creating a three-on-one situation. After a perfect pass from Jayna Hefford, Poulin deposited the puck in the back of a wide open net to make it 4-0. Switzerland took a timeout in order to regroup, but the floodgates had already busted open. Just a few minutes after Poulin's goal, she got into the act once again by setting up Rebecca Johnston, who was rewarded for going hard to the Swiss net. That goal gave Canada a 5-0 advantage heading into the final stanza, having tested Schelling on 48 occasions to just eight shots for the Swiss. While Schelling was busy through two periods, Canada's potential record-breaking pace for shots on goal was slowed considerably in the second frame. Although Canada continued to carry the pace of play in the third period, things were far more competitive in the closing 20 minutes. Neither team netted a goal, but Switzerland got a couple of opportunities and nearly got on the board. Ultimately, Canadian goalie Charline Labonte came away with the most routine of shutouts having to make just 14 saves on the game. The same couldn't be said for Schelling, who barely had time to catch her breath. Despite Switzerland's loss, it can be argued that Schelling was the best player in game. Although Switzerland will almost certainly have to play a quarterfinal game in order to earn a shot at a medal, it is definitely a threat to take bronze due to Schelling's ability to steal a game. Canada's showing against Switzerland was particularly impressive considering what it has gone through as of late. Former Florida Panthers head coach Kevin Dineen took over as Canada's head man in December, and Team Canada struggled to the tune of four exhibition losses to Team USA. Canada clearly had a great attitude during the win against Switzerland, and if they are able to keep that up moving forward, then a fourth consecutive gold medal may very well be on the horizon. Canada's top line of Rebecca Johnston, Jayna Hefford and Marie-Philip Poulin did most of the damage combining for three of the goals, while the second line of Natalie Spooner, Hayley Wickenheiser and Meghan Agosta-Marciano combined for the other two.

Sweden v Japan 1-0 - Jenni Asserholt deflected a shot into the net for a first-period goal and Sweden held on to beat Japan 1-0, in their opening game of the Sochi Olympics women’s hockey tournament. Valentina Wallner stopped 19 shots for the Swedes. Led by strong defensive play and elite goaltending, Nana Fujimoto made 22 saves for Japan, who had not qualified for the Olympics in women’s hockey since the sport was added to the Winter Games in Nagano in 1998. Sweden is the only team other than the United States or Canada to have reached an Olympic gold medal game, beating the Americans in the 2006 semifinal and earning a silver. But the Swedes have struggled lately, falling into the second-tier Group B that will have to compete for two spots in the quarterfinals. Team Japan had several chances to even the score late in the game. As well as Japan played, the Swedish women were able to weather the storm and pull out the victory. Swedish captain and offensive leader Jenni Asserholt was able to rack up the game’s only goal (assisted by defender Emma Eliasson and assistant captain Erika Grahm) and matched Japan’s physical defensive play with plenty of intensity.



Russia v Germany 4-1 - In one of the most exciting games of the tournament so far, Russia was able to dominate the German team, 4-1, and set a tone for the rest of the Olympics with its dominant play. Russia were much the better team during the first period, being pretty much camped in Germany's defensive end throughout. The game was much more evenly matched through the second period, until Germany took a shock lead on the break from Franziska Busch. Germany held onto their lead five minutes into the third period, but the unwavering attack of Team Russia broke the game open. Scoring four goals in a seven minute stretch. Iya Gavrilova squeezed home the leveller from almost on the goal line as the puck seemed to get stuck under German goaltender Viona Harrer. Led by Olga Sosina, the Russians attacked the offensive zone with ferocity, the German team were shell-shocked and simply did not have an answer, to being overpowered. Russia proved to be even more dangerous on the power-play, with Sosina getting the first of her two goals on the man-advantage. Just 38 seconds later, and with Germany rocking, Captain Yekaterina Smolentseva found the back of the net, before setting up line-mate Smolina for her second. The Russians now must go up against the tough defensive style of the Japanese on Tuesday. With a stronger core of defenders and an elite goaltender looking to stifle the Russians' offensive explosion, this will be a much better test for the home team. Game referee Anna Eskola of Finland should also get some credit for allowing both sides to play without calling too many penalties.