Finland's Jenni Hiirikoski to miss rest of Olympic women's hockey tournament with upper-body injury

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Finland's Jenni Hiirikoski to miss rest of Olympic women's hockey tournament with upper-body injury

2026-02-15 05:38 Last Updated At：05:40

MILAN (AP) — Finland defender Jenni Hiirikoski’s fifth and potentially final Olympic Games are over due to an upper-body injury that will require surgery, the Finnish Ice Hockey Association announced on Saturday.

Finland was slotted to play Switzerland in a women’s hockey quarterfinal matchup at the Milan Cortina Games later in the day. Hiirikoski was hurt in the first period of a 5-0 preliminary round-closing loss to Canada on Thursday.

Her injury represents the latest setback for the Finns, who’s tournament start was delayed by two days due to a stomach virus depleting the team’s roster.

“It’s a shame that the games are left unfinished,” Hiirikoski said in a press release issued in Finnish and translated into English.

The 38-year-old is a three-time Olympic bronze medalist, and a member of the national team since 2004. Hiirikoski earned top Olympic defender honors in 2014 and 2018.

She's dealt with several injuries in recent years, including being hospitalized after her throat was cut by a skate blade during a Swedish Women's Hockey League game in 2023. Hiirikoski was also sidelined by an illness forcing her to miss the world championships last year.

The Finns went 1-3 in preliminary round play and were shut out three times, with their only victory coming against Switzerland.

Finland entered the tournament as a medal contender. The team won bronze at the 2022 Beijing Games and has won bronze at the past two world championships.

This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of Jenni Hiirikoski’s last name in the headline.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Matvei Michkov has a goal, 2 assists as the Flyers beat the Islanders 3-1

NEW YORK (AP) — Matvei Michkov had a goal and two assists and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the New York Islanders 3-1 on Friday night to move within one point of the Islanders for third place in the Metropolitan Division.

Travis Sanheim and Alex Bump had a goal and an assist each and Owen Tippett also scored for Philadelphia. Dan Vladar finished with 20 saves. The Columbus Blue Jackets are also tied with the Flyers with 88 points.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored for New York and Ilya Sorokin made 17 saves in his 10th straight appearance, but the Islanders lost their third straight in a tightly contested Eastern Conference playoff race.

Michkov fired a shot from behind the goal line off Sorokin’s pad early in the second period to give the Flyers a 3-0 lead.

Tippett opened the scoring, completing a forehand-backhand move off a pass from Sanheim with less than seven minutes remaining in the first period.

Bump extended the Flyers’ lead to two goals when he caught Sorokin out of position and sent a wrist shot just inside the post.

Pageau scored off a feed from Mathew Barzal with less than five minutes remaining in the second period to pull New York within 3-1.

Sanheim scored midway through the third period to restore Philadelphia’s three-goal lead and put the game out of reach.

Simon Holmstrom returned to the Islanders’ lineup after missing the previous game against the Buffalo Sabres with an upper-body injury. Anthony Duclair was a healthy scratch.

Flyers: Host the Boston Bruins on Sunday.

Islanders: Visit the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl