With the game tied at 1 and just 50.6 seconds left in overtime, M\u00fcller and Ivana Wey drove toward the Swedish net, and Wey hit M\u00fcller on the doorstep. <\/p>\n
And then, it all went dark.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know I was tired. I know the legs were heavy,\u201d said M\u00fcller, who was on the ice for the majority of the extra frame. \u201c[Wey] made an unbelievable pass, and I just got rid of it as fast as I can. <\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then, yeah, I blacked out. And then seeing all my friends coming at me, jumping, tears in their eyes, that\u2019s a feeling you can not repeat.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just 27 and already a four-time Olympian, M\u00fcller, an assistant captain with the PWHL\u2019s first-place Boston Fleet, set Swiss records these Olympics in goals (16) and assists (13) and is now fourth all-time in career Olympic women\u2019s hockey goals.<\/p>\n
How does she manage to keep showing up in the big moments?<\/p>\n
\u201cShe just likes to shoot [in] the important games for our national team,\u201d said Swiss goaltender Andrea Br\u00e4ndli, who remembers watching M\u00fcller\u2019s 2014 winner on TV.<\/p>\n
The women\u2019s game has come a long way in Switzerland (and around the world) since 2014, and a lot of that change is because of M\u00fcller.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s a trailblazer in our country,\u201d Br\u00e4ndli said. \u201cShe\u2019s the face of women\u2019s hockey since she scored that goal in 2014, and ever since she carried that pressure with so much grace, so much power.\u201d<\/p>\n
Br\u00e4ndli said M\u00fcller is the \u201cbest player in the country\u201d and said her clutch performance Thursday proves she deserves that title.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe doesn\u2019t fall under pressure too, because she has a lot [of pressure], and that\u2019s just incredible from her side,\u201d the goalie said.<\/p>\n
In 2014, winning bronze was about showing the world that Switzerland can compete with the big names in hockey and that women\u2019s hockey was worth investing in, M\u00fcller said. <\/p>\n
This year, they no longer have anything to prove.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery year it\u2019s getting it\u2019s getting more exciting, getting more physical, more athletic, faster game, and then the stadiums are filling up,\u201d she said. \u201cJust a few years ago, there would have been 100 people in the stands, and it\u2019s crazy to see.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emma Healy can be reached at emma.healy@globe.com<\/a> or on X @ByEmmaHealy<\/a>.<\/p>\n