USA Hockey Magazine

The U.S. hadn't faced any adversity until the clock started ticking down inside Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. They had steamrolled their opponents 31-1 and had an Olympic-record shutout streak of 352:17 before Kristin O'Neill gave Canada 1-0 lead in the second period. Goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens and Team Canada were stifling the high-octane U.S. offense and time was running out. The hopes of a gold medal were slipping out of what appeared to be a Statue of Liberty cop- per iron grasp for 20 days in Milan. Knight, playing in her fifth and expected final Olympics, rose to the challenge. Her first thought when she scored? " We w e r e g o i n g t o w i n t h e g a m e ," Knight said. "It was that simple. To find the back of the net, I was like, 'Here we go. This is ours.'" It was 4:07 into overtime that Megan Keller took a deep feed from Taylor Heise to the left of the U.S. goal crease, deked around Claire Thompson, and snuck the puck by Desbiens to deliver the golden goal and mem- ories that will last a lifetime. "I am just so proud of this group," Keller said. "The way we battled, fought for 60-plus minutes. It was top to bottom. It was a full team effort. Everybody really loves one another. It is a special group to be a part of. "We talked about it going into overtime. Playing not to lose, playing to win." Heise said, "(Knight) is the reason why we win. She's the sole part of our group that keeps us together. She's amazing. I'm never going to count her out, but she has cemented herself in history." Aerin Frankel was stout in goal, finishing with 30 saves. The elation that was on display by the U.S. bench inside Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena runs much deeper than a gold medal or Knight breaking records. Instead, the smiles, hugs and jubilation were rather a sign of the love and apprecia- tion that Knight's teammates also have for their captain and each other. Team USA wanted to make sure Knight ended her Olympic career with a second gold medal. "Not only does she lead on the ice with all of her accolades, but also the way that she cares about her teammates," Coyne Schofield said. "She gets to know her team- mates. She knows what makes them go, she knows when they might need a little bit of an extra boost. She knows when to speak. She knows when she doesn't need to speak and just needs to lead through the way she is—her play, her work." Yes, Knight scored a record-setting 15th goal of her Olympic career to help the U.S. win its third gold medal all-time in women's hockey, but the amount of times Knight has scored for the betterment of women's hock- ey and girls hockey is much higher. "If you look at what she's done for the sport on and off the ice, and the impact she's made not only on this program, but the sport—that's the hardest leadership there is—to change the landscape of the game forever and, she's done that," Coyne Schofield said. Keller notched an assist on Knight's 14th career goal earlier in the Olympics. Her and Knight were also teammates at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang—the last time the U.S. won gold. "I'm just honored to get the chance to play with her," Keller said. "Most of the team was aware that she was close to a lot of records. She deserves all the success in the Golden Vibes 18 // MARCH 2026 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM You have to have the passion and love in the room for one another. Any team that I've been a part of that's been successful, we would have done anything for one another." — Hilary Knight 18 // MARCH 2026 USAHOCKEYMAGAZINE.COM W A T C H THIS is the best part" - Hilary Knight & Team USA mic'd up for the anthem

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