2029 IIHF Women's World Championship: Day 3

USA 5, Germany 0

The German defense did a great job to close down space and keep the Americans from picking up speed or moving freely through the neutral zone. The US players spent a lot of time cycling the zone as Germany prevented passes, blocked shots and generally made life difficult for their opponents. Sandra Abstreiter was, as always, spectacular in net, stopping several close range shots and standing particularly strong during some early US power plays.

Casey O'Brien scored her second goal of the tournament on a one-timer from the hashmarks off a feed from below the goal line by KK Harvey. In the final minute of the period, Emma Peschel unleashed a rocket from near the blue line that was tipped by Lacey Eden (yes, I know that's not what the stats say but watch the video). The puck deflected past Abstreiter and the US took a 2-0 lead into the break.

Alex Carpenter extended the lead in the second after some tight passing gave her enough of a lane to find the back of the net. Midway through the third, Germany looked to be carrying the puck out of the zone, but it just got away from Svenja Voight. Taylor Fox quickly stole the puck and fed it behind her to Hannah Bilka, who sent it across the crease to Abbey Murphy, who was crashing at the back post to make it a 4-0 game. Joy Dunne closed out the scoring off a pass from Harvey after she wove through some traffic. Dunne tapped it in to close out the 5-0 win.

With her assist on Dunne's goal, Harvey passed Angela Ruggiero to become the highest scoring American defender in IIHF Women's Worlds history. Harvey has 43 points in 36 games played so far. This is her sixth World Championship.

Ruggiero's 43 points were scored over 50 games played in ten World Championships. She was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2015 and the IIHF Hall of Fame in 2017.

Sweden 4 , Finland 1

Sweden came out hard and put pressure on Finland early, moving the puck well and keeping the Finns from breaking out of the zone. The Swedes kept up a quick pace, even in the offensive zone with constant circling and crisp passing. That paid off early as a zone entry led to a prime chance after three quick passes. Sanni Ahola made the initial save, but Sweden collected the puck from the back boards and moved it back up high where Ida Karlsson's shot from the blue line made it through traffic to the back of the net.

I liked the patience and confidence Sweden played in for most of this game. Yes, they were holding the zone, but they did that by winning a lot of 50/50 pucks. They didn't panic at loss of time or space. They knew where their teammates were, they were confident in tight spaces and didn't make mental mistakes, particularly in the first and third.

Coach Erika Holst has her three young stars that play together at Ohio State on her first power play unit. Their chemistry paid off quickly as the three seemed to know exactly where to leave a pass for the other. Jenna Raunio fed Mira Jungåker who laid it off for the forward of the trio, Hilda Svensson, who took it to the top of the circle and made it a 2-0 game before nine minutes had elapsed.

Finland pushed back in the second, flipping the shots on goal and putting pressure on, but they could not break through and beat Ebba Svensson Traff. The Swedes closed down the middle of the ice, forcing Finland into low percentage shots that did not get through traffic. Then, Sweden did a good job reacting and adjusting, coming out in the third with more energy. While again moving the puck well around the zone, keeping their feet moving, Michelle Löwenhielm took the puck high to low before sending it back up top. Jungåker's shot from distance was redirected by Sara Hjalmarsson past Ahola to make it 3-0.

Petra Nieminen got her country on the board, but it was a little too late for the Finns as she tipped Siiri Yrjola’s shot from distance into the net. It might have been a different game if Finland could have scored in the second, but getting this goal after Sweden extended the lead didn't provide the same boost. Tilde Grillfors added an empty netter at the end of the game to close out a 4-1 win for Sweden.

Switzerland 2, Czechia 1 (OT)

A couple of big things that stood out for me in this game.

Czechia has to figure out how to put the puck in the back of the net. They obviously put up four on Austria to start the tournament, but their scoring in the Women's Euro Hockey Tour has been bleak. The team is too talented and they get too many chances on net for them to be struggling to score against teams they're evenly matched with.

Switzerland goaltending is always so game-changing. And the team is so good at being patient and striking when the opportunity is there. The Swiss patience is unbelieveable.

I'll preface this by saying I watched this game without commentary on my tablet because that's the stream I could access. That being said, I'm pretty sure it was an officiating disaster for everyone involved. There was a lot of contact called and uncalled and I'm pretty sure most players spent their evening rotating through ice packs.

Czechia captain Klára Hymlárová was given a game misconduct 12 minutes in and that feels like it set the tone for the game.

It looked like Switzerland was going to squander the five minute major power play when Alessia Baechler less than a minute into the advantage. However, the four-on-four play opened up the ice and gave Switzerland room they didn't have at full strength. Alina Müller took off on a rush to net. Her initial shot was saved but Ivana Wey had gone with her and she was able to bat the rebounded puck back into the net to give Switzerland the 1-0 lead.

Early in the second, Linda Vocetková jumped up and intercepted a pass at the top of her defensive zone and took off by herself, cutting across the ice at the opposing blue line and unleashing a wrister back across her body to beat Saskia Maurer and tie the game 1-1.

Czechia outshot the Swiss 21-1 in the middle frame, but could not convert their dominant zone time into anything on the scoreboard. Maurer was spectacular, but the more pucks didn't go in, the tighter you could see the Czechs holding their sticks. Switzerland has to do a better job clearing the zone under pressure - that's going to be an issue for them as the tournament continues.

Switzerland pushed back more in the third and kept Czechia more contained, but neither team could beat the goaltenders. Klára Peslarová stopped Wey cold on two late chances while Maurer and Müller converged to end any threat on a Vocetková breakaway.

Their inability to close out the game bit Czechia in overtime. Alessia Baechler carried the puck to the corner for Switzerland and Czechia seemed to forget that a line change was happening and another player would come into the zone. Unfortunately for them, it was Müller who jumped the boards and had nothing but open space between her and Peslarová. Baechler fed her the puck and Müller's slapshot from the high slot beat Peslarová stick side to quite frankly steal the win for Switzerland. Czechia does already have a win under their belt, but I think they're going to find themselves regretting the lost opportunity (and points) here.

Canada 9, Japan 0

This was the type of disciplined outing you expect from Canada in a game where they are ranked so much higher than their opponent. Canadian coaches like to talk about staying connected and focusing on their details and habits and that's exactly what we saw from them here. They don't want to lose focus when the pressure isn't as high so the movements are all but by rote when there is no time and space.

Chloe Primerano and Erin Ambrose scored in the first, Daryl Watts and Rosalie Tremblay scored in the second and Kendall Cooper scored early in the third to make it 5-0. But things broke open in the final eight minutes of play. Emma Maltais scored unassisted to make it 6-0 and then Sophie Jaques, Sarah Wozniewicz and Caitlin Kraemer each scored in the span of 92 seconds at the end of regulation to really turn this into a blowout. Ève Gascon made 14 saves and earned a shutout.