2026 IIHF Women's World Championship: Quarterfinals and relegation

Canada 3, Czechia 2

After struggling through the opening round, Czechia pulled a tough quarterfinal opponent in Canada. They had to figure out their game quick and try to stay out of the penalty box if they were going to have a chance in this game and they acheived at least some of that goal.

There were still too many penalties, but a couple were coincidental, helping take away any advantage for Canada. The Czechs played the kind of hard-fought, physical game they're known for while also doing a great job clogging up the middle and keeping Canada both from the dangerous areas and from getting too comfortable in the zone. Czechia had 12 blocks in the first period alone as the team played with a "nothing to lose" mentality that served them well.

With a young Canada team who were fourth in scoring efficiency and managed seven goals total in their games against Finland and Czechia, the smothering, frustrating defense did a good job of keeping them on their heels and uncomfortable.

After a scoreless first, Canada looked like they might be pulling away, scoring twice in three minutes in the opening of the second frame as Sarah Fillier put back a rebound after attempts from Rosalie Tremblay and Jessie Eldridge to make it 1-0. Becca Leslie doubled the lead on the power play with a wrister from the slot to make it 2-0.

But Czechia was not about to go down without a fight and Kalty Kaltounková appeared prime to do all the fighting. Seemingly the most frustrated by the team's early results, she played this game like she personally was going to will her team to the semifinals.

On their own power play later in the frame, Kaltounková clashed with Kristin O'Neill. The puck cycled up top where Adéla Šapovalivová carried to the high slot and shot as she fell off to the left. Ève Gascon made the initial save, but the puck popped out and Klára Hymlárová tried her own shot. The rebound came out again and this time Noemi Neubauerová remained calm and just touched it to the right where Kaltounková was waiting and had a mostly open net to simply lift the puck into. Suddenly it was a 2-1 game.

Renata Fast restored Canada's lead late in the second in four-on-four play. Her shot from distance went through traffic and it looked like Klára Peslarová made the save. But she blocked the puck into her other leg and the puck trickled through and behind her into the next to make it 3-1.

A power play early in the third was the chance Czechia needed. Canada once agian left the back post open and Kaltounková with too much open space between her and that spot. Another rebound led to a goal and suddenly it was 3-2.

Czechia pushed but could not find an equalizer. They looked to pull the goalie and try for a last minute push, but Kaltounková took a late elbowing penalty that put her team on the kill to close out regulation and Canada hung on for the win.

The three best players of the tournament for Czechia are Aneta Tejralová, Kalty Kaltounková and Sára Čajanová

Sweden 1 , Switzerland 0

This game was a little disjointed as first-period penalties kept anyone from settling into their game or setting the tone.

Not to take anything from the Swiss offense, but Saskia Maurer was their star of the game, stopping several point-blank Sweden chances and generally keeping her team in the game and giving them a chance. Sweden outshot Switzerland 25-9 overall. Maurer was calm and poised and didn't get wrapped up in physicality or get flustered by the number of big bodies in front of her net.

Sweden did a good job of cycling the puck, looking for new lanes and not getting frustrated. It felt like everytime Switzerland got a block or Maurer made a save, Sweden just reset and tried a new approach.

That came to fruition in the second when Nicole Hall won the puck on the back boards and got it to Sofie Lundin as she was falling. Lundin found Mira Jungåker near the top of the zone. Jungåker took a few touches and rifled a shot on net. Sara Hjalmarsson had used her big, solid presence to stake some ice in front of the net, so she was able to get her stick on the puck and deflect it past Maurer to score what would turn out to be the game winner and all Sweden needed to advance to the semifinals.

Sweden was the team most likely to benefit from the change in tournament format and so far that has borne out. The weighted groups made it really difficult to move out of Group B. Here in their first chance to do things differently in several years, they were prepared. This will be their first quarterfinal appearance since 2009.

The game also served as revenge for Sweden over the bronze medal game in Milan in February, where Switzerland took an overtime win to earn the medal.

Switzerland's three best players of the tournament are Ivana Wey, Alina Müller and Alessia Baechler.

USA 14, Denmark 0

Host Denmark made a huge step forward qualifying for the quartefinals. And for their efforts they had to face one of the most offensively dominant teams in recent history.

I don't know how much there is to say. Eleven different Americans scored goals. Their 85 shots on goal are a new tournament record, breaking their own record of 82, set against Sweden in 1997. Defenders KK Harvey and Haley Winn each had two goals and three assists to pace the team with five points apiece. Kelly Pannek also had two goals.

Denmark's only chance in this game was outstanding defense and goaltending. But this US team is one of the most elite scoring teams from top to bottom that women's hockey has seen. Taylor Fox scored 57 seconds in. Casey O'Brien scored at 2:20 and Pannek lit the lamp 30 seconds after that.

The game was 3-0 before three minutes had elapsed and it was clear Denmark was going to be in for a long game.

Emma-Sofie Nordström made 51 saves before exiting for a well-earned rest after two periods. Caroline Bjergstad had 20 saves in the third.

Abbey Murphy left the game after knee to knee contact. Her status for the semifinals is unclear.

Denmark's three best players of the tournament were Emma-Sofie Nordström, Nicoline Jensen and Mille Sørensen.

Finland 6, Germany 0

The Finns pretty much had this one from start to finish. They played smart, clean hockey, controlling the puck and possession and continuing to build on their lead. Michelle Karvinen and Julia Schalin scored in the first. (If you watch one goal from this game, watch Schalin cut through the entire German team before burying the shot). Viivi Vainikka scored in the second to make it 3-0 and Petra Nieminen, Krista Parkkonen and Elisa Halopainen scored in the third to secure a semifinal berth for the Finns.

It was a bit of a brutal end for Germany after an opening round they couldn't have dreamed of. But they seemed to be running out of steam while Finland was picking it up. Finland had a 15-5 shot advantage after the 1st and that 2-0 lead and they just never stopped pressing.

The top three players of the tournament were Laura Kluge, Nina Jobst-Smith and
Sandra Abstreiter. German captain Daria Gleißner said this was her final World Championship game for her country. The 33 year old debuted at the 2012 World Championship.

Austria 2, Japan 1 (OT) - Relegation game

Anna Meixner was the hero for Austria, scoring two improbably and frankly unbelieveable goals to keep her team in the top tournament and send Japan back down to D1A.

Both goals were scored on the power play. Early in the second Meixner unleashed a one-time shot from the top of the right circle that took her down to one knee. It was an awkward angle and it snuck in near post. Nothing about it said high-percentage shot, but it did have pace and a the perfect location to put her team up 1-0.

The game was up and down the ice as Japan tried to use their speed not just to get past players, but to try and elude the physicality of Austria, who wanted to grind Japan down, keep them to the outside and along the boards and generally keep them from the center of the ice. Japan carried play to start in the first, but they looked rushed, with shots missing the net or hitting the post.

Japan scored midway through the third to tie the game as Akane Shiga tipped a shot from Kanami Seki that came through traffic after a whole lot of chaos near the net.

Meixner's game-winner in overtime was in many ways a carbon copy of the one she scored thirty minutes earlier. She went to a knee as she prepared to one-time a feed near the right dot. Instead, she fanned a bit (she'd later call it the worst shot of her life) and somehow that ended up being the best thing she could do. Goalie Riko Kawaguchi seemed prepared for a slap shot. But Meixner's shot fluttered and arced airborne and into the net. The goal was reviewed but was called good, so Austria celebrated twice and will remain in the top division.

This was Austria's first tournament in the top division and even making it there was a huge accomplishment. They threatened to boycott this tournament and fought with their federation for better treatment. This win is a huge boost for this program and for the players who decided to push to make things better for themselves and the next generation. Japan had been in the top division for seven years an hadn’t played in a relegation game since 2016, when they lost a best-of-three series to Switzerland in two games. Heading back to D1A shows a step backward for the program that had show growth at the start of the last decade, but may have stagnated a bit.

Austria's three best players of the tournament are Selma Luggin, Annika Fazokas and Anna Meixner.

Japan's three best players of the tournament are Riko Kawaguchi, Aio Shiga and Akane Shiga.