USA coach Katey Stone believes that her side's early goal against Finland took off the anxiety among her players.
Forward Hilary Knight scored after 53 seconds at the Shayba Arena to help her team to a 3-1 victory over their European opponents in Group A at the Sochi Olympics on Saturday.
"To have the opportunity to score in the first minute of the game sets the tone and takes a little bit of the edge off the anxiety in the first game for many of these players," Stone told reporters.
The other game in the group on Saturday saw Canada beat Switzerland 5-0.
