BEIJING — Difficult as it was hearing Brianna Decker crying out in pain while laying prone on the ice, Kendall Coyne Schofield understood the U.S. women’s hockey team still had a game to finish.
After the Americans wrapped up their 5-2 win over Finland to open the Beijing Games, Schofield could verbalize what she felt when encountering Decker standing on crutches next to the bench.
“I just told her, `We got this,’” Schofield said. “No matter what she’s a big part of this group. … You saw that in our response after she went down, how much we picked up the game and took control.”
The sight of the team’s assistant captain and 11-year veteran unable to put weight on her left leg before being stretchered off provided a motivating spark to the defending Olympic gold medalists.
Amanda Kessel and Alex Carpenter scored twice over the next 3 1/2 minutes in the Group A match. Schofield then put the win away with two goals in 64 seconds in the second.
“There’s no replacing Brianna Decker,” said Schofield, the team’s captain. “But in that situation, everyone stepped up to the plate in the way they were asked to. And I think that’s how we were successful tonight.”
Now it’s a matter of the Americans continuing to forge ahead — while more than likely missing their top center — in their bid to become the first U.S. squad to win consecutive titles.
“It was sickening,” Kessel said of the yelps of pain coming from Decker after she and Savolainen were tangled up to the left of the U.S. net.
“She’s one of the toughest players that I’ve ever played with or against, so you know she’s not staying down on the ice or crying when it’s not bad. So it’s definitely a gut punch,” Kessel added. “We want to win for her.”
Without going into detail, coach Joel Johnson said Decker’s injury was still being evaluated. Johnson also said he wasn’t going to dispute the official’s decision not to penalize Savolainen, who appeared to slew-foot Decker from behind, leading to both players falling to the ice.
“They saw it as just people getting tangled up,” Johnson said. “I’m biased, and so I saw it a little differently. But I don’t think it was a missed call by any means.”
Savolainen said she wasn’t sure what happened, and called it “an unlucky situation” while sharing what she told Decker following the game.
“I just ask how she’s feeling, and then I said, `Sorry.’ Like, I didn’t want to hurt her,” she said.
Decker’s injury was the second to a key player during the tournament’s opening day. Canadian forward Melodie Daoust did not return after being checked hard into the boards by Sarah Foster in Canada’s 12-1 rout of Switzerland.
