'Generational talent' Sarah Fillier exceeding lofty pre-Games expectations in Beijing

Those who know Sarah Fillier expected her to turn some heads at the Olympics. But as the women's hockey tournament progresses, the 21-year-old is finding ways to surprise even them.

Before the competition began, Princeton head coach Cara Morey had warned analysts that Fillier's contributions may not be obvious from the stats sheet.

"If you're expecting her to score a ton of goals, you might be disappointed because she's more of a playmaker," Morey recalls saying. "But if you watch what she does with the puck and away from the puck, you're going to realize she's one of the greatest players that we've seen.

"And then she goes and leads the Olympics in scoring!"

With eight goals and two assists through five games, Fillier is tied for first in goals and sits fifth overall in points. She's been so dominant that a game in which she helped set up the opening goal stands as her least remarkable showing.

WATCH | Princeton women's hockey coach raves about Sarah Fillier:

While Morey's prediction may seem foolish in hindsight, she was only half wrong. Fillier's movement off the puck and ability to read the play have formed the basis of the 5-foot-5 centre's success.

"She's just got that extra sense," said two-time Olympic champion Cheryl Pounder, who serves as analyst on the CBC broadcasts. "She knows where to be, how to get to a soft spot with good timing. She will take two crossovers outside of the dot in order to get the [defence] to turn their feet.

"You very rarely see her drive the net when it's not there, or force a play around the net. If she doesn't think she can beat you one-on-one, she'll pull up, she'll create space, she'll open up a lane for someone else."

Bradi Cochrane, who coached Fillier through high school, first saw the budding star when she was 13 years old.

"At that age, her skill level was definitely superior to her peers," Cochrane told CBC Sports. "But I think the biggest thing was just how she thought the game. You could honestly see her scanning the ice every single shift and survey what's happening and how to attack the defence and offensive players."

As she got older, Cochrane says, Fillier began honing in on the minutiae of the game. If a teammate excelled at a drill, Fillier immediately sought to understand how: Did they get the defender's feet to move? Did they move the stick? Did they slow down?

WATCH | All of Canada's 11 goals in win over Sweden at Beijing Games:

Even as the best player in her age group, she was always looking to add another element to her game, peppering her coaches with questions. That hasn't stopped.