ASSOCIATED PRESS Hilary Knight is preparing to make the 2026 Milan Winter Games her fifth and final Olympics, the face of U.S. women's hockey told USA Today on Tuesday. "It's time," Knight was quoted as saying. "I have grown up in this program and it's just given me so much. I'm at peace. I just have this feeling that it's time," she added. "And I'm grateful that — hopefully I can stay healthy and everything — I can go out when I'd like to be done. That is such a privilege that only a handful of competitors get." The decision comes as Knight turns 36 in July, while entering her 20th year with the national team since making her debut in the 2006 Four Nations Cup tournament as a 17-year-old. Over that time, Knight has become one of her sport's most decorated and dominant players, including being named the winner of the IIHF's inaugural female player of the year award in 2023. Last month, she led the U.S. with nine points in winning her 10th gold medal at the world championships, a tournament in which Knights holds the career record for most goals, assists and points. At the Olympics, Knight won gold at the 2018 Games in South Korea along with three silvers. And she's coming off a PWHL season in which the Boston Fleet captain finished tied for the league lead with 29 points (15 goals, 14 assists) in 30 games. Though she's retiring from international play, Knight said she intends to continue her PWHL career in a league she played a role in helping launch in the summer of 2023. The six-team privately funded league surpassed the 1 million attendance mark this past season and last month announced it was adding expansion teams in Seattle and Vancouver for the start of its third season. Knight's impact on hockey also included her being at the forefront of the U.S. players' threat to boycott the 2017 world championships on home soil, successfully achieving their bid for better pay and more equitable treatment from USA Hockey. "I understood what the sport gave me and I wanted to give that to other people. I wanted other people to have the same opportunities that I had," Knight said. "Obviously there's tons of work that always needs to be done, but I think we now have a career path." Clark sparks Charge Emily Clark was just hoping for a shorter overtime. After experiencing quadruple overtime in her team's tough semifinal series, the Ottawa Charge forward was eager to put an end to things early. Clark did just that, scoring at 2:47 of overtime Tuesday night to lead the Charge to a 2-1 win over the Minnesota Frost for a 1-0 lead in the Professional Women's Hockey League best-of-five championship series for the Walter Cup. "I had an opportunity the shift before with some speed and the puck kind of rolled off my stick and, you know, I was just trying to shake that off," Clark said. "And I just had in my mind that if I have another opportunity I was just going to try to use my speed and get it to the net. Obviously, happy with the result." Game 2 is Thursday in Ottawa, where the Charge are 3-0 in the playoffs. The Frost have never won Game 1 of a playoff series in four attempts. Minnesota also lost the first game of their semifinal series to Toronto and came back to win three straight. "We know it's gonna be a tight series," Frost coach Ken Klee said. "They're a good team. We know goals are gonna come at a premium and, obviously, they got one more than us tonight." In the extra period, Clark came down the wing and wired a shot past Nicole Hensley, who finished the game with 17 saves. The game required extra time after Gwyneth Philips had a rare miscue early in the third period, leading to the Frost's tying goal. Philips, who stopped 25 shots, mishandled the puck while attempting to play it, turning it over to Katy Knoll. Knoll quickly fed a pass to Klara Hymlarova, who buried the wide-open chance to tie the score 1-1. "You know, those little missteps are going to happen," Charge coach Carla MacLeod said. "That's the reality of sport. That's the reality of hockey. There's little mistakes that can occur, but she doesn't let it faze her, and we know that about her, too." With 6:08 remaining in regulation the Charge were set to go on the power play but officials then reviewed an incident that saw Rebecca Leslie cross check Mellissa Channell-Watkins. It was initially assessed as a major but then downgraded, creating offsetting minors. "I was definitely freaking out a little bit," admitted Leslie, as she waited for the call. "I was disappointed, and don't like to be in those situations. So, just glad it was a minor and we killed it off." Leslie had brought the crowd to its feet midway through the second period when she beat Hensley high glove side to give Ottawa a 1-0 lead.