2024 IIHF Women’s World Championship Day 7 Recap: Germany remains perfect, Japan beats Denmark to move on

While the two superpowers did not play on the final day of the group stage at the Women’s World Championship, there were a few important games on Tuesday. Teams were looking to lock up seeds, while others were simply trying to get into the quarterfinals.

Let’s see all that went down on Tuesday:

Group B

Germany is too much for China

The first game of the day saw China have an opportunity to clinch the last quarterfinal spot in the group, as they just had to beat Germany. However, that was easier said than done, as the Germans did not let China sustain any pressure, finishing perfect in Group B following a 3-0 win.

Germany got right after the Chinese team, as Laura Kluge scored her second goal of the tournament just 28 seconds into the game.

Träger der Adler dominated the first frame, outshooting China 19-0 in the opening 20 minutes. They added one more before the period was done, with Emily Nix notching her second in Utica to send Germany into the break up by two.

The Germans exerted more pressure in the second period, but with their tournament hopes hanging in the balance, China turned to its netminder to give them a chance. Dartmouth commit Zhan Jiahui turned away all 12 shots she faced in the middle frame. However, China was only able to put three shots on goal.

They started to pick up the pressure in the third, as they attempted the “cherry-picking” strategy of sending players up the ice. It unfortunately did not pan out, as China failed to beat Sandra Abstreiter, and an empty-net goal from Bernadette Karpf sealed the win for Germany.

Germany outshot China 44-9, with Zhan making 41 saves in her fourth start of the tournament. Chinese captain Yu Baiwei was named the team’s player of the game, playing 17:23.

Defender Carina Strobel was named Germany’s player of the game after putting five shots on goal in 14:03 of ice time. Kluge led the team with a goal and an assist in the win. Lisa Hemmerle earned the shutout in net.

The loss derailed China’s (1-0-1-2) chances of sneaking into the quarterfinals. Germany (4-0-0-0) will face Czecha on Thursday.

Japan steals the final spot

Heading into the final game of the group stage, Japan sat at the bottom of Group B. However, all they had to do was beat Denmark to get into the quarterfinals. Thanks to a dominating effort, they did just that, beating the Danes 3-0.

Japan drew first blood minutes into the game, as Remi Koyama scored her first goal of the tournament. In the second period, Japan took control of the game, hammering Denmark in shots, 13-4. They extended the lead just past the halfway mark of the game, as Akane Shiga made a great play to set up Suzuka Taka for her first goal in Utica.

By the time the third period began, Denmark was emotionally drained. Japan put them away with Rui Ukita scoring an empty-netter to put the cherry on top late in regulation.

It is the fifth straight world championship that Japan has advanced to the quarterfinals. They outshot the Danes 31-8, with Riko Kawaguchi pitching the shutout.

Emma-Sofie Nordstrom, named one of Denmark’s top three players of the tournament, made 28 saves in the losing effort. In four starts, the St. Lawrence netminder made 126 saves on 136 shots, the second-most in the group stage.

Japan (1-0-1-2) will now face the United States on Thursday. Denmark and China have been relegated to Division IA.

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Group A

Mlynkova sets Czech record

The final Group A contest saw one of the best players in Czechia’s history reach a milestone, as the Czechs clinched third place in the group with a 6-1 win over Switzerland.

In the win, Natalie Mlynkova potted a hat trick. With that, the University of Vermont product has 15 goals as a member of the senior national team, surpassing Alena Mills for the most goals by a Czech player at the Women’s Worlds.

Czechia got off to a great start, with Aneta Tejralova scoring 37 seconds into the game. However, the Swiss kept up, as captain Lara Stalder notched her second of the tournament with just a few minutes remaining in the first period.

After a very back-and-forth opening 20 minutes, Czechia took over in the middle stanza, outshooting Switzerland 16-3 in the second. Tereza Vanisova found the back of the net for the first time in Utica, giving Czechia its second lead of the game early in the period.

Mlynkova scored her first of the game just over a minute later, with Czechia carrying a two-goal lead into the third.

Mlynkova scored twice in the final 20 minutes, with Daniela Pejsova notching her first of the tournament, capping off the impressive win.

It is the first time in Czechia’s history that they have picked up two regulation wins in Group A at the world championships.

Pejsova and Vanisova each registered two points for the Czechs, and Klara Peslarova earned her second win of the tournament with 18 saves.

Saskia Maurer made her first start in net for Switzerland making 30 saves on 36 shots.

Czechia (2-0-0-2) will face Germany in the quarterfinals, while Switzerland (0-0-0-4) will go up against Finland on Thursday.

Top Performers

Natalie Mlynkova, F, Czechia: The Zlin native was the driving force behind Czechia’s win over Switzerland. Along with setting the goal-scoring record for her country, Mlynkova had a hand in four of the Czech’s six goals.

Zhan Jiahui, G, China: Zhan was the only reason China picked up three points in the group stage. In four games, the 18-year-old faced 148 shots and still posted a .939 save percentage. I cannot wait to see what she can do at the collegiate level.

For the full schedule, go to IIHF.com