BEIJING — No matter what came at them, no matter how many of their pre-Olympic plans were shredded by the impact of the coronavirus, the mantra of the U.S. women's hockey team has remained the same: Adjust and adapt.
Even though they were shaken when standout forward Brianna Decker suffered a ghastly left leg injury Thursday, they knew they had to adapt to the reality that she won't return in the tournament. The richness of their talent will allow them to compensate for her absence. Their resolve is just as deep. It allowed them to adjust to the physical, defense-minded style the Russian Olympic Committee team favored Saturday, a distinct contrast to the speed-based game Finland had played in their Olympic opener.
"We know our character and we know our identity in the room," forward Hilary Knight said. "But it's good to test us and figure out how to work our way through a tournament with different obstacles and do it together. It was good to present ourselves with that obstacle, to say, 'OK, how do we figure this out? How do we problem solve on the fly and find the back of the net and come home with the W?' "
