USA’s Brianna Decker out rest of Beijing Olympics with leg injury

While the United States ultimately picked up a 5-2 victory over Finland, losing a star player in Decker is a massive blow to the team’s chances of repeating as Olympic gold medalists.

The U.S. women’s national team defeated Canada at the Pyeongchang Games in 2018 to capture its first gold medal since Nagano in 1998. Canada won gold in Salt Lake City in 2002, Turin in 2006, Vancouver in 2010 and Sochi in 2014.

Decker, a three-time Olympian, is widely considered to be one of the top women’s hockey players in the world. The 30-year-old has made 146 appearances for the U.S. national team over her career, scoring 81 goals and 170 points.

Filling her role on the team is going to be a challenge. Team USA’s coaches rely heavily on Decker to play a two-way game as the team’s top center. A player to watch will be 24-year-old Abby Roque, who’s playing in her first Olympics.

The United States didn’t bring any alternates beyond the 23-player roster to Beijing, but general manager Katie Million said that the team has a small window to bring in alternate players if needed.

Next up, the United States will continue its group stage play on Saturday at 8:10 a.m. ET when they take on the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC). They’ll then play Switzerland on Sunday at the same time.

The big game that everyone has circled on the calendar is Monday at 11:10 p.m. ET, as the United States will take on their bitter rivals from Canada.

Team Canada won its opening game on Thursday as well, handily taking down Switzerland by a score of 12-1. Canadian forward Melodie Daoust left the game after being checked hard into the boards by Switzerland’s Sarah Forster.