Women’s Worlds Quarterfinals Recap: Heise and Bilka shine, Knight breaks scoring record as USA topples Hungary

Mike Gould
Mike Gould
Sep 2, 2022, 06:30 EDT
Women’s Worlds Quarterfinals Recap: Heise and Bilka shine, Knight breaks scoring record as USA topples Hungary

Team USA forward Hilary Knight needed two points in Thursday’s quarterfinal game against Team Hungary to break Hayley Wickenheiser’s all-time Women’s Worlds scoring record.

Knight, 33, entered Day 7 of the 2022 Worlds with 85 points (50 goals, 35 assists) in 63 career appearances for Team USA over 12 tournaments since 2007.

Wickenheiser, a Team Canada legend who is now an assistant general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, scored 86 points (37 goals, 49 assists) in 61 games over 13 World Championships during her playing career.

Well, Wickenheiser’s record is now a thing of the past. Knight picked up a goal and an assist against Team Hungary to help the Americans pick up a 12–1 win.

It would’ve taken a miracle for the Hungarians to advance past Team USA on Thursday (even after their surprisingly strong performance in Group B). Even after Team Hungary held the Americans to just one goal in the first period, things opened up dramatically in the middle frame.

Team USA scored nine goals on 32 shots in the second period. That’s right, they had 32 shots in 20 minutes — and they might’ve taken more if they weren’t forced to kill off 1:22 of 5-on-3 time for Team Hungary in the process.

As we covered on Daily Faceoff yesterday, Knight tied Wickenheiser’s record with an assist on Hannah Bilka’s second goal of the game, which gave the Americans a 7–0 lead with 7:21 to play in the middle period.

But Knight has always been known as a lethal goal-scorer, and it was only fitting that she moved ahead of Wickenheiser with a goal of her own. Knight broke the record with a snipe from the slot past Hungarian goaltender Aerin Frankel to make it 11–0 early in the third.

Knight initially received credit for an assist on Hannah Brandt’s goal late in the second period, but she ended up needing the goal to set the record after her secondary helper was redistributed to Bilka.

While Knight absolutely had a night to remember against Team Hungary, Bilka and Taylor Heise were Team USA’s top performers in the quarterfinal contest.

Heise scored the Americans’ first two goals of the game (including the eventual winner) and completed her hat trick with the final goal of the second period. She added an assist and fired a team-high seven shots on goal.

Bilka produced with extreme efficiency against the Hungarians, scoring three goals on three shots and adding two assists in just 12:24 of ice-time. She finished with a plus-six rating and was named Team USA’s player of the game.

Kelly Pannek, Abby Roque, Jincy Dunne, Lee Stecklein, and Hannah Brandt also scored for Team USA in the quarterfinal rout. The Americans will now face Team Czechia in the semifinals on Saturday.

Regina Metzler scored the Hungarians’ lone goal in their first-ever knockout round appearance at the Women’s Worlds. After being outshot 69–10 on Thursday, Team Hungary will face Team Finland on Saturday in a battle to earn a spot in the fifth-place game.

Snap shots

  • Team Sweden goaltender Emma Soderberg had an incredible outing on Thursday, stopping 54 of the 57 shots she faced in what ultimately went into the books as a 3–0 quarterfinal victory for Team Canada. While the skaters in front of her only mustered nine shots on goal, Soderberg kept the Swedes close all game long and allowed just one goal in each period. Canadian star Marie-Philip Poulin assisted on Jocelyn Larocque’s game-winning marker (surprise, surprise) but failed to score a goal of her own despite testing Soderberg nine times.
  • Team Finland played for a medal at the first 20 iterations of the Women’s World Championship, but that streak is now over after a stunning 2–1 overtime loss to Team Czechia on Thursday. Klara Peslarova was outstanding in goal for the Czechs, stopping all but one of the 37 shots she faced before Aneta Tejralova scored the dagger less than a minute into the extra frame. (By the way, the Czechs have never played for a medal at the Women’s Worlds).
  • Both Team Switzerland and Team Japan struggled to keep up in their games against other Group A opponents, but their game against each other in the round-robin stage was extremely tight. The Swiss emerged with a 3–1 win over Team Japan on Day 2 of the tournament, and their quarterfinal matchup was even closer. Team Japan controlled the shots 33–24 in the game and even led 1–0 after the second period, but Sinja Leemann tied it up on a shorthanded breakaway midway through the third period before scoring one of Team Switzerland’s two shootout goals to seal the deal.

Day 7 Results

Team Switzerland 2, Team Japan 1 (SO)

Team USA 12, Team Hungary 1

Team Finland 1, Team Czechia 2 (SO)

Team Canada 3, Team Sweden 0

September 3 Schedule

Semifinals

Team USA vs. Team Czechia — 8:00 a.m. ET

Team Canada vs. Team Switzerland — 12:00 p.m. ET

Placement games

Team Finland vs. Team Hungary — 6:00 a.m. ET

Team Japan vs. Team Sweden — 10:00 a.m. ET

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