Knight, alongside Hughes brothers, jokes back on 'Saturday Night Live' - ESPN

This time, it was Hilary Knight's turn to provide a big laugh — with an assist from the «Saturday Night Live» writers — in the wake of a weeklong dustup involving the United States women's and men's Olympic gold-medal-winning hockey teams.

Knight, the U.S. women's captain, along with teammate Megan Keller and men's team brothers Jack and Quinn Hughes, made a surprise appearance during «Heated Rivalry» star Connor Storrie's opening monologue on «SNL» on Saturday night.

With the Hughes brothers already on stage alongside Storrie, Knight and Keller joined them to a loud and lengthy ovation. The four players wore USA jerseys with their gold medals draped from their necks.

Knight opened by saying: «It was going to be just us, but we thought we'd invite the guys too.»

The remark was a clear reference to a controversy that arose when the men received a congratulatory call from President Donald Trump following their 2-1 overtime win against Canada on Sunday at the Milan Cortina Games.

Addressing the team over a speakerphone, Trump invited the men to his State of the Union speech, before adding he'd have to also invite the women too. The president later said if he didn't invite the women, he'd risk being impeached, which led to the players laughing at a comment many saw as sexist.

Knight on Wednesday referred to the joke as being «distasteful and unfortunate.»

Many of the men, in the meantime, said they laughed while being caught up in the celebration. Boston Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman acknowledged they «should have reacted differently» to Trump's remarks.

The U.S. women, who also beat Canada 2-1 in overtime three days earlier, politely declined Trump's invitation due to travel plans. The players traveled commercially and