2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship Roundup: Standouts from Day 6

On the penultimate day of the group stage of the 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship, some surprising moments highlighted an eventful Monday in Czechia.

The three teams advancing to the quarterfinals out of Group B were finalized as a result of the first game of the day. Germany was in a close battle early on against Hungary, a rematch from the exciting final game at the 2026 Olympic qualifiers. Neither side scored until the second period. After the Germans stuck first, Emma Kreisz scored Hungary’s first goal of the tournament. With the game tied at one, Germany ramped up the pressure in the third, with Nina Jobst-Smith and Laura Kluge contributing in a three-goal final frame.

Germany went on to win 4-1, securing a spot in the quarterfinals. As a result, both Norway and Hungary will be relegated to the D1A championships next year.

The second game of the day saw Switzerland have the best game in České Budějovice. Despite falling behind against Finland early on a shorthanded goal from Ronja Savolainen, the Swiss continued to generate chances. Granted, they had many glorious opportunities, thanks to Suomi giving Switzerland four power plays in the game. Even though Alina Müller gave the Swiss their first goal of the tournament, Michelle Karvinen’s record-breaking goal proved to be the difference in Finland’s 2-1 win.

With the loss, Switzerland is guaranteed to finish last in Group A.

The marquee game of the day was a very wild game that saw Canada go up against host Czechia. While Canada gained the upper hand early, the Czechs refused to go away. Some big saves from Klára Peslarová kept Czechia close, and the team’s power-play came very close to tying the game heading into the third period. However, that was when Canada decided enough was enough. They came flying out of the game in the final frame, scoring five goals, four of which came a little over two minutes apart, to secure a 7-1 win.

The game saw some pretty chippy play between the two sides, with the two teams combining for 18 penalty minutes, a high mark for a Women’s Worlds matchup. It also showed a glimpse that teams like Czechia are closing the gap against the team’s “superpowers,” Canada’s experience and depth proved they are still far ahead of the pack.

Here were Monday’s top players:

Germany

Laura Kluge, C: We’ve been waiting for Kluge to really burst in this tournament. With a spot in the knockout stage on the line, the Toronto Sceptres forward did just that. Along with picking up a pair of assists, Kluge scored her first goal of the tournament, and what a beauty it was, to add some insurance in the third period. The 28-year-old has been Träger der Adler’s biggest offensive threat over the years. Seeing her create and take advantage of scoring chances is big, as she’ll be a crucial asset if Germany has success in the quarterfinals.

Nicola Hadraschek, LW: Hadraschek took advantage of her opportunities on Monday. Another player who’s been a solid scoring threat for Germay, the ECDC Memminghen star broke the ice early in the second period by getting to the net and slamming home her first of the tournament.

Hadraschek has been one of the top scorers in the DFEL over the past few seasons, leading the league in points in 2023-24, and playing with top players like Kluge and Emily Nix highlighted her skill set in the win.

Hungary

Emma Kreisz, C: It wasn’t the tournament Hungary wanted to have on their way to an overall 10th-place finish in Czechia, but make no mistake, this team battled to the end. Though they didn’t score in their first three games of the tournament, the Hungarians finally got on the board on Monday, with Emma Kreisz beating Sandra Abstreiter with a nice wraparound goal.

Kreisz is a Women’s Worlds veteran for Hungary and has shown she has the ability to be a key player in her two years at the University of Minnesota. The fact she was the one to score Hungary’s first goal in the top division since 2023 checks out.

Finland

Michelle Karvinen, LW: It was a record-breaking day for Karvinen. Finland’s captain scored a huge goal to put her team on a path to its second straight win.

The goal marked Karvinen’s 61st point at the Women’s Worlds, surpassing Hockey Hall of Famer Riikka Sallinen for the most points by a Finn in the tournament’s history. With someone like Jenni Hiirikoski not playing due to illness, Karvinen has had to take on the role of being a contributor as well as the prominent leader on this team.

Emilia Kyrkkö, G: While everyone expected Sanni Ahola to be the No. 1 goaltender for Finland in this tournament, Kyrkko has had to play a sizeable role thus far. She was thrown to the wolves with her first Women’s Worlds start came on the second half of a back-to-back against Canada. While that didn’t go well, Kyrkkö made up for it with a great performance against Switzerland. The St. Cloud State freshman stopped 27 of the 28 shots she faced, including 12 in the opening frame, to pick up her first-ever win in the tournament.

Switzerland

Alina Müller, C: With her longtime linemate Lara Stalder out with an illness on Monday, the sole task of generating offense sort of fell on Müller’s shoulders. Thanks to the numerous power plays, Müller wasn’t the only one getting pucks to the net against the Finns, but it was the Boston Fleet star who finally gave the Swiss its first goal of the tournament with a sleek play to cut the deficit to one.

It was Müller’s 16th goal at the Women’s Worlds. She was tied with Alina Marti for the most shots on goal in Monday’s loss with six.

Canada

Marie-Philip Poulin, C: It’s never good to see a ticked off, Marie-Philip Poulin. Whenever you anger Captain Canada, she takes her game to a different level. With Czechia finding a way to hang around, Poulin took it upon herself to take the game over, using physicality and skill to ensure Canada stayed out in front.

Poulin’s impact on the team has been substantial. After entering last year’s tournament hampered by an injury, she has been able to be the dominant force, registering a point in every game so far. The Montreal Victoire captain leads the tournament with eight points in four games.

Kristin O’Neill, C: I just love how every year Kristin O’Neill is hanging around Canada’s bottom six, but has learned how to be a key player, whether she’s scoring or not. In Utica, she picked up some of the offensive slack with Poulin struggling. This year, she’s been an effective two-way center, scoring a couple of goals in the win over the Czechs to show her scoring side. In tournaments like this, O’Neill has proven she can be one of Canada’s best players, no matter where she plays.

Czechia

Adéla Šapovalivová, LW: Without question, Czechia’s top line has been dangerous all tournament long, and for a brief time, it gave Canada a lot of problems on Monday. When it looked like the Canadians were going to go off and running, Adéla Šapovalivová put a stop to that, scoring her first of the tournament early in the contest to send Budvar Arena into a frenzy,

When the Czechs had a couple of power plays in the middle stanza, Šapovalivová was very involved with the top unit that created a ton of good looks, coming very close to tying the game. The 18-year-old managed to finish the game with a zero rating, putting two shots on goal in 20:19 of ice time.

Standings

Group A

1. United States (3-0-0-0), 9 points
2. Canada (3-0-0-1), 9 points
3. Finland (2-0-0-2), 6 points
4. Czechia (1-0-0-3), 3 points
5. Switzerland (0-0-0-3), 0 points

Group B

1. Sweden (3-0-0-0), 9 points
2. Germany (2-0-0-1), 6 points
3. Japan (2-0-0-1), 6 points
4. Norway (1-0-0-2), 3 points*
5. Hungary (0-0-0-4), 0 points*

*relegated to 2026 IIHF D1A Women’s World Championship

Coming up…

The final day of the group stage will see Sweden looking to go undefeated in the opening round against Norway (5 a.m. ET). Germany and Japan (9 a.m. ET) meet to determine second place in Group B, while Americans round out the opening round with a game against Switzerland (1 p.m. ET).

All games will be broadcast on TSN1 and NHL Network

MORE WOMEN’S HOCKEY

• 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship Roundup: Standouts from Day 5
• 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship Roundup: Standouts from Day 4
• 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship Roundup: Standouts from Day 3
• 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship Roundup: Standouts from Day 2
• 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship Roundup: Standouts from Day 1

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