2025 IIHF Women's World Championship: Day 1

Sweden 5, Germany 2

With the way the quarterfinals are set, this matchup looked to be the most important one of the preliminary rounds and it just happened to end up on the schedule first. The winner of this game is the likely winner of Group B, which pits them against the #3 team in Group A and likely affording them a chance to avoid facing the US or Canada. Germany won a tight 1-0 game when the two teams met in 2024.

Germany built some momentum early on, killing two penalties while Sweden controlled possession. But just after the second penalty expired, Lisa Johansson put a ton of pressure on the forecheck and caused a turnover behind the net. Sandra Abstreiter scrambled to get back in position and made the initial stop but the rebound came out to the slot and Hanna Thuvik buried it.

Mira Hallin doubled the lead in the second, getting the puck off a bounce from the back boards to make it 2-0. Germany responded with a wrister through a narrow seam by Luisa Welcke to cut the lead to 2-1, but this game really was all Sweden. They doubled up Germany in shots 24-12 through the first two frames.

The Swedes put the game away with two quick goals to start the third as first the German defense lost track of Anna Kjellbin. Lisa Johansson's pass found her all alone across the ice and she did not miss. A minute later Thea Johansson's shot from even with the goal line found it's way through everyone to sneak into the net to extend the lead to 4-1.

Emily Nix added a power play goal for Germany to make it 4-2 with about 10 minutes left, but her team could not put together more offense and Hanna Olsson's empty-netter secured the 5-2 win for Sweden.

Germany gets two full days off and will face Norway at 9 A.M. Eastern on Saturday. Sweden faces Hungary Thursday at 9 A.M. Eastern.

United States 7, Finland 1

On a team chock full of big-name talent, the Americans opened the tournament with a big win thanks to goals from some unlikely sources. Fourth-liner Hayley Scamurra had the US up 2-0 before six minutes had elapsed, first putting back a rebound from close range and then letting loose with a slap shot from the point. Both goals came from good recovery by the Americans to keep the puck in the zone. A few minutes later Kendall Coyne-Schofield won a puck battle on the boards and sent it to Kelly Pannek, who quickly saw Abbey Murphy cutting to the net. Murphy dropped it right back to Pannek, who had nothing but space to wrist it in from the slot.

Lee Stecklein, who took two years away from Team USA, celebrated her return with a goal any forward would be proud of as she drove the net through far too much open space given by Finland and scored five-hole to make it 4-0. Petra Nieminen had a beautiful power play goal to spoil the shutout and make it 4-1, but Finland could not muster more on offense. Hilary Knight had a wrister from the edge of the circle to make it 5-1 before the second intermission.

Early in the third Cayla Barnes stopped a Finland breakout and found Taylor Heise, who backhanded the puck back to the net front where it deflected into the net and extended the lead to 6-1. Pannek put back an easy rebound off a shot from Haley Winn to close out the 7-1 victory.

It was an uncharacteristic performance for Finland goalie Sanni Ahola, who gave up seven goals on just 24 shots. The Finns missed legendary defender Jenni Hiirikoski, who is not in Czechia due to illness. It will be interesting to keep an eye on the US offense, which usually puts many more shots on goal. Unfortunately the IIHF doesn't track blocks in their live stats or game summary, but it didn't feel like USA wasn't getting the puck to the net. The score would imply that Finland wasn't doing much to limit them, so is this a change in the US approach where they are more selective in the shots they take? We'll need a few more games to see if a pattern emerges.

The Americans get a day off before playing hosts Czechia at 1 P.M. Eastern on Friday. Finland continues their brutal start to the tournament by playing Canada Thursday at 1 P.M. Eastern

Czechia 3, Switzerland 0

A sold-out home crowd was treated to an early goal by Klára Hymlárová that built momentum and helped power Czechia to the win. Switzerland had plenty of opportunities throughout the game that could have helped take the crowd out of it or swing the game their way, but they could not capitalize. Klára Peslarová made 26 saves, including a couple of massive stops on Lara Stalder and Laura Zimmerman.

Kalty Kaltounková, who had a strong college career at Colgate, had notably not made any senior team rosters until this year. This is her first major tournament and she made an immediate impact, scoring on the power play with 13 seconds left in the first to double the lead to 2-0. She was also crucial on the other end of the ice throughout the game, but particularly late in the third as Switzerland pushed to break through, using her size to close off lanes and block shots.

Tereza Pištěková had the third goal, putting back a third-chance opportunity on a shot from Andrea Trnková to make it 3-0.

Andrea Brändli was outstanding in net for the Swiss, keeping the game close and in grasp for her team with several highlight-reel saves, including a couple from close range.

Czechia next faces the US at 1 P.M. Eastern on Friday. Switzerland will take on Canada at 9 A.M. Eastern on Friday.