Short-handed Russian women's hockey team exits isolation, upends Switzerland

The Russians were in isolation in the Olympic Village from Monday to Wednesday and couldn't train after one of the largest coronavirus outbreaks so far at the Beijing Games. It wasn't an ideal situation ahead of its opening group game against Switzerland, but they still won 5-2.

"We came to the Olympics and we had to sit in our rooms without the opportunity to practice," said Russian forward Alexandra Vafina, who had two assists. "It was hard but we got all together, we stayed positive and we took this little opportunity that we had."

The United States and Canada each lost key players because of injury, but the Russians are worse hit with six of their original 23-player roster from last month now unavailable after virus positives, including captain Olga Sosina. Vafina said the team sent fun, supportive messages on a group chat to keep spirits up and ensure the replacement players who arrived later feel welcome.

Russia's name and flag are banned from the Olympics in the fallout from years of doping disputes, so the team is playing as ROC, short for Russian Olympic Committee. The ROC team only had 18 skaters and two goaltenders available for the game, while Switzerland had its full allowance of 23 players.

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Switzerland had its own ordeal to overcome after collapsing in a 12-1 loss to Canada in its opening game, its biggest loss in Olympic play. The 2014 bronze medallists were aiming to build on a surprise 3-2 overtime win over the Russians in the quarter-finals of last year's world championships and stayed with goalie Andrea Braendli after she faced 70 shots against Canada.

Twice the Russians took the lead but Switzerland tied it up both times before Anna Shibanova's