2024 IIHF Women’s World Championship Day 1 Recap: USA, Czechia, Sweden impress

The 2024 IIHF Women’s World Championships began on Wednesday, with a couple of group favorites starting the round-robin on the right foot.

Let’s check out what happened on Wednesday:

Group A

Braendli plays strong, but USA still wins

Thanks to a strong goaltending performance, the host nation only ended up winning by a few goals, as the United States came away with a 3-0 win over Switzerland.

As expected, the Americans came out of the gate flying, outshooting the Swiss 14-4 in the opening period. However, thanks to some big saves by Andrea Braendli, the game was scoreless through 20 minutes.

However, that changed minutes into period two, as a Hayley Winn point shot snuck through Braendli for her first goal with the U.S. senior national team.

The pressure by the U.S. continued throughout the middle stanza, as the team ended up putting 21 shots on goal. The top line finally got on the board, as Kendall Coyne Schofield tapped in her first international goal since the 2022 World Championship, sending the Americas into the third up by two.

With only a small lead, the United States kept their foot on the gas in the third. Captain Hilary Knight tipped in a Cayla Barnes point shot for a power-play goal, with Winn notching her second of the game to cap off the night later on in the frame.

Knight looked like she had scored her second of the game prior to Winn’s second tally, but the goal was overturned as the puck did not fully cross the goal line.

The United States outshot the Swiss, 55-11, with Braendli making 51 saves in the losing effort. She was the easy choice for Switzerland’s player of the game.

Aerin Frankel was forced to make a couple of key saves in the first period on Switzerland captain Lara Stalder, which would have given the game a much different feel. The PWHL Boston netminder only had to make 11 saves in the shutout.

Knight led the U.S. with a goal and two assists, while Coyne Schofield had two points.

The U.S. has Thursday off before hosting Czechia on Friday. The Swiss are also back in action on Friday, taking on Canada.

Czechia sets the tone with a win

With a healthy mix of veteran and teenage talent, Czechia kickstarted their tournament with a convincing effort against another world power, beating Finland, 4-0.

It was a very balanced first period, as Finland got a couple of good chances early in the contest. The Czechs slowly started to take the game over, and in the second period, they took the play to Finland. After a couple of great saves by Finland’s Sanni Ahola, Czechia broke through with a goal from 17-year-old Adela Sapovalivova.

Then, a good defensive play from Tereza Radova led to Klara Hymlárová scoring a pretty goal to put Czechia up by two.

The third period saw Czechia sit back, which gave Finland some room to generate some offense. However, Klara Peslarova did not allow Suomi to stage a comeback by stopping all 10 shots she faced and ended up turning away 21 in the game.

Czechia was able to seal the game with empty-net goals from Natalie Mlynkkova and Tereza Plosova.

The Czechs proved they have considerably more depth than the Finns, and are looking like an early threat for another medal.

Klara Hymlarova was Czechia’s player of the game, registering a goal and two assists. Ahola was named player of the game for Finland after making 29 saves.

Finland is back at it on Thursday, as they face the powerful Canadians, while Czechia has a day off to prepare for the Americans.

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Group B

Sweden dominates, but barely beats Denmark

In a game where the Group B favorites really controlled the play, the excellent play by the Danish netminder made things interesting, as Sweden opened the tournament with a 3-1 win.

In the opening 20 minutes, Denmark played very responsibly in its own zone. The defense clogged up the slot, not allowing Sweden too many grade-A chances.

That changed in the second period, as Sweden’s offensive attack started to take the game over, forcing the Danes to scramble to stay afloat. Sweden outshot Denmark 20-0 in the middle stanza, and finally broke the deadlock past the halfway mark of the hockey game as Felizia Zienkiewicz notched the first goal of the tournament.

A nice setup from Hilda Svensson allowed Lina Ljungbolm to hammer home a one-timer to give Sweden a 2-0 lead heading into the third.

Sweden received a little more insurance when Josefin Bouveng found the back of the net minutes into the third, but Denmark sparked some life several minutes later. Nicoline Jensen took advantage of a misplayed puck by Swedish netminder Emma Söderberg to put Denmark on the board, but it was too little, too late.

Emma-Sofie Nordstrom was named player of the game for Denmark. The St. Lawrence netminder did everything she could to give her team a chance, stopping 36 of the 39 shots she faced.

Maja Nylen Persson was Sweden’s player of the game, earning an assist, and finishing with the most minutes of any defender on her team.

Söderberg picked up the win for Sweden, though the PWHL Boston goaltender only had to make four saves.

Denmark is back in action on Thursday, taking on Germany, who will be playing in its first game of the tournament. Sweden has a day off before taking on China on Friday.

Three Stars

1. Hayley Winn, D, United States: The New York native showed up in her home state on Wednesday, leading the American with two goals against the Swiss. The Clarkson product is playing in just her second Women’s Worlds.
2. Adela Sapovalivova, F, Czechia: The 17-year-old’s goal and assist helped the Czechs beat Finland. For her age, she plays with more poise and vision than many veterans in Europe.
3. Andrea Braendli, G, Switzerland: Call it a pity choice, but Switzerland lost only by four to the Americans because of the MoDo goaltender’s play. If the Swiss want any hopes of a medal, it is because of her.

For the full schedule, go to IIHF.com