USA Women's Team Routs Finland in Preliminary Olympics Hockey 2022 Action

The United States women's hockey team got off to a winning start at the 2022 Winter Olympics on Thursday, beating Finland 5-2 in a preliminary-round game in Beijing.

Captain Kendall Coyne Schofield and Alex Carpenter scored twice for Team USA in the victory, while Amanda Kessel found the back of the net as well.

After watching rival Canada rout Switzerland 12-1 in its first game of the tournament earlier that day, the Americans answered with a one-sided win of their own against a traditionally tough Finland team.

While the United States is the reigning gold medalist in women's Olympic hockey, Finland won bronze four years ago in Pyeongchang and has played for a medal in all but one of the six occasions that women's hockey has been contested at the Olympics.

Finland also won a silver medal at the 2019 world championships and bronze at the 2021 world championships, but it looked overmatched Thursday.

Team USA got the scoring started just past the midway point of the first period when Kessel took matters into her own hands by driving to the front of the net and beating Finnish goaltender Anni Keisala:

Kessel, the younger sister of longtime NHL forward Phil Kessel, is in search of her third career Olympic medal and her second gold.

The United States made it 2-0 before the first period was over, as Carpenter recorded a power-play goal off a beautiful cross-ice pass from Kelly Pannek:

After winning a silver medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Carpenter was left off the 2018 Olympic team, but the Massachusetts native persevered and was selected this time around.

The speedy and crafty Coyne Schofield took over during the second period and doubled the Team USA lead to 4-0 with a pair of goals in 64-second span.

The forward roared down the wing and beat Keisala with a wicked wrister to extend the Americans' lead to 3-0:

Coyne Schofield then deflected a Savannah Harmon shot into the net to make it 4-0.

The Americans were dominant in the second period, and as pointed out by LaVelle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune, the Finns generated almost no scoring opportunities:

Finland finally got on the board and broke up goaltender Maddie Rooney's shutout just over three minutes into the third period on a power-play goal from Susanna Tapani.

The Americans answered just about five minutes later, though, when Carpenter scored for the second time in the game, making good on a quality pass from Abby Roque to restore a four-goal advantage:

It appeared as though the game would end with a 5-1 score, but a review took place after the final horn sounded, and it was determined that a shot by Tapani with 2:20 left went off the post and in, so the final 140 seconds had to be replayed.

Little changed, though, aside from the Americans winning 5-2 rather than 5-1.

Overall, the United States took the play to Finland, outshooting the Finns 52-12 and winning 66 percent of the faceoffs.

There was one negative for Team USA out of the contest in the form of an injury to a key player.

Forward Brianna Decker, who was playing in her third consecutive Olympics, suffered an apparent leg injury midway through the first period and had to be stretchered off the ice.

Chris Peters of Daily Faceoff explained how big of a loss Decker could potentially be:

ESPN's Greg Wyshynski later reported that Decker was seen on crutches and with her left leg in a walking boot after the game. USA Hockey also confirmed that Decker will miss the remainder of the Olympics.

Decker has been one of Team USA's top forwards for over a decade with 170 points in 146 career games for the national team, so replacing her production will be a huge challenge.

Still, the Americans played at a high level without Decker for most of Thursday's game, and there is no question that they are still the gold medal co-favorite along with Canada.

The United States and Canada have played for Olympic gold five out of six times, and they appear to be on a collision course again in Beijing.

Team USA will look to improve to 2-0 in Group A preliminary-round play Saturday when it faces the Russian Olympic Committee.