BEIJING (AP) 鈥� Hilary Knight would like to have a word with one of her former coaches, who placed an emphasis on getting shots on net.
Ultimately, the four-time U.S. Olympian said, it comes down to quality over quantity.
鈥淭here鈥檚 different types of opportunities, right?鈥� Knight said following a on Tuesday to close the Olympic women鈥檚 hockey preliminary round, in which the Americans had a 53-27 edge in shots.
鈥淲e had a coach who said, 'Get 60 shots on net and you鈥檙e going to win the game,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t really doesn鈥檛 work that way at this level.鈥�
The Americans received a reminder of that when their five-game Olympic winning streak dating to a 2-1 loss to sa国际传媒 in the preliminary round of the 2018 Winter Games was snapped.
They now have work to do to generate more offense if they intend to defend their Olympic title in what is expected to be a rematch against sa国际传媒 in the gold-medal game. By finishing second in the Group A standings, the U.S. (3-1) can begin honing its scoring approach starting with a quarterfinal matchup Friday against , a Winter Games newcomer.
鈥淚鈥檓 glad to hit the reset button and focus on a different opponent,鈥� coach Joel Johnson said. 鈥淎nd if we see sa国际传媒 again, great. We hope it鈥檚 an opportunity to win.鈥�
The focus is on finishing, especially after the U.S. also had scoring issues, with five goals on 62 shots, while shutting out the Russian team on Saturday.
鈥淲e generated a bunch of offense, but that offense didn鈥檛 create enough high-quality scoring chances,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淪hots on net don鈥檛 win hockey games, goals do.鈥�
Through four games, the U.S. ranks fourth of 10 teams in scoring efficiency, generating 20 goals off a tournament-leading 233 shots. sa国际传媒, by comparison, leads the tournament in efficiency, with 33 goals off 194 shots, followed by Japan (13 goals, 140 shots) and the Czechs (10, 111).
The power play is also a concern. The U.S. ranks fourth, converting four of 19 chances. sa国际传媒, meanwhile, has been the most productive, going 6 of 13 on the power play, including Brianne Jenner converting her team鈥檚 lone opportunity on Tuesday.
Jenner鈥檚 goal, capping nifty three-way passing play, came at a time when the U.S. had controlled momentum, having a 14-2 edge in shots through the first 14-plus minutes. The back-breaker for the Americans, however, came when their power-play unit gave up a shorthanded breakaway to , who eventually scored on a penalty shot awarded to her after Cayla Barnes was called for hooking.
Not only did the power play blow a chance to tie the game at 3, the U.S. fell behind 4-2 with 2:35 remaining in the second period, with Poulin capping sa国际传媒鈥檚 three-goal run over a span of 5:25.
While the Canadians possess an aggressive transition attack to fit their players鈥� speed and play-making strengths, the Americans have a more plodding offense, more reliant on zone time and converting chances around the crease.
sa国际传媒鈥檚 defense countered by crowding the front of the net to limit most of the Americans鈥� chances to the outside.
鈥淲e just need to keep the pucks off the yellow and get them to the net and create that time and space that we need,鈥� U.S. captain Kendall Coyne Schofield said, referring to the yellow ribbon along the bottom of the boards.
Both American goals came from in close. Dani Cameranesi converted her own rebound, and Alex Carpenter was set up to the right of the net, where she backhanded a shot in.
Otherwise, sa国际传媒 goalie Ann-Renee Desbiens had a mostly an easy time stopping shots from the outside.
鈥淚t didn鈥檛 feel like a 50-something shot game,鈥� Desbiens said.
Her best stops came when she kept the game scoreless during the opening 10 minutes. Grace Zumwinkle found a lane to the net only to have her backhander from in tight stopped. Abbey Murphy failed on a breakaway chance when her shot caught Desbiens鈥� pad and bounced off the post.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know the last time we put up that many shots against them. I think that鈥檚 something that we can take away, that we had the puck a lot of the game,鈥� Amanda Kessel said. 鈥淛ust got to find a way to put more in the net than them.鈥�
The U.S. is further hampered playing without , who broke her left ankle in a 5-2 win over Finland on Thursday.
Zumwinkle鈥檚 status is in question after she appeared to hurt her hand in the closing minutes on Tuesday.
NOTES: The four goals allowed by the U.S. matched a team Olympic record, dating to a 7-4 win over sa国际传媒 in the cross-border rivals' first Olympic meeting at the 1998 Nagano Games. ... With two goals and nine assists for 11 points, sa国际传媒's Natalie Spooner is tied for second with fellow Canadians Caroline Ouellette (2010) and Hayley Wickenheiser (2010) and for most assists in one tournament. Wickenheiser holds the record with 12, set in 2006. ... sa国际传媒 hosts Sweden in the other quarterfinal on Friday, while on Saturday, Finland plays Group B champion Japan and Switzerland plays the Russian team.
___
More AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
John Wawrow, The Associated Press
