2024 IIHF Women’s World Championship Day 2 Recap: Canada hits the century mark, China pulls off an upset

It was an eventful second day of the Women’s World Championship in Utica, as we saw a strong performance by one of the teams in Group B, while an underdog picked up a monumental win.

Let’s take a look at all that happened on Thursday:

Group A

Canada picks up 100th win at Women’s Worlds

A hockey powerhouse hit a historic mark in their first game of the tournament, though it was not easy, as Canada earned its 100th win in Women’s World Championship competition by beating Finland, 4-1.

It was a little bit of a slow start for Canada, but a goal from PWHL Ottawa captain Brianne Jenner gave the team the lead right before the halfway mark of the first period. The goal went to the Canadians’ legs, as they really carried the play through the end of the frame, leading 1-0 heading into the break.

Despite PWHL Toronto’s Emma Maltais putting Canada up by two early on in the second, Finland started to take the game over. They outshoot Canada 11-10 in the middle stanza and cut the deficit in half thanks to a goal from veteran forward Petra Nieminen minutes after Maltais’ marker.

However, Suomi found itself in a deeper hole heading into the third. In the final minute of the second, a great pass from Kristin O’Neill setup Julia Gosling for a beautiful goal to make it 3-1. It was the St. Lawrence product’s first goal in her first game with the senior national team.

In the third, Canada really sat back, letting Finland create more opportunities. Though Suomi outshot the Canadians 15-9 in the final 20 minutes, a late insurance marker from defender Ella Shelton secured the win for the Canadians.

Canada did lead the final shot total, 36-33, but they forced goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens to be sharp. The PWHL Montreal netminder was named Canada’s player of the game with a 31-save performance. Shelton led her team with a goal and two assists.

Michelle Karvinen was given the player of the game award for Finland. Despite playing just 9:23, the Danish-born forward picked up an assist on Nieminen’s tally.

Sanni Ahola was handed her second loss in as many days, making 29 saves for Finland.

Canada is back in action on Friday, as it faces Switzerland. Finland gets the day off before taking on the United States on Saturday.

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Group B

Zhan comes up big for China

In a battle of the two Asian nations in the tournament, it would be the underdogs, who were heavily outplayed, that came out on top, as China beat Japan in a shootout, 3-2.

Japan was all over China from the drop of the puck. The team was averaging a shot per minute throughout the first period, and the pressure was rewarded minutes into the game as PWHL Ottawa forward Akane Shiga finished off a pretty pass from Hikaru Yamashita to score the first goal of the game.

After outshooting the Chinese team 22-4 in the opening 20 minutes, Japan continued to press in the second stanza. However, China netminder Zhan Jiahui came up with some big saves to keep the deficit to just one. The gap was erased when China’s Yang Jinglei scored a flukey goal on Miyuu Mashuhara to tie the game heading into the third.

With the game level at one, you could see China play with a little more confidence, but they found themselves trailing minutes into the third, as Makoto Ito gave Japan its second lead of the game.

Just minutes later, China cashed in on the power play, as Guan Yingying tapped in a nice pass from Liu Zhixin to make it a 2-2 game.

Neither team scored for the remainder of regulation, nor overtime, so a shootout was needed for the first time in the tournament. The skills competition was scoreless through three rounds, before Guan beat Mashuhara in the top of the fourth. Zhan ended up stopping Rui Ukita to seal the win.

It is China’s first win at the top division of the Women’s Worlds since the 2007 tournament.

Japan outshot China 52-17, with Zhan easily earning player of the game honors, making 50 saves.

Akane Shiga was named player of the game for Japan, as the 23-year-old scored a goal and an assist in the loss.

China is back in action on Friday, as they take on a rested Swedish side, while Japan will take on Germany on Saturday.

Germany starts off strong sluggish Danes

Germany took advantage of a Danish side coming off a tough loss to Sweden on Wednesday. A strong and controlling effort led to a 2-0 win for the Germans.

Throughout the game, Germany’s defense swarmed Denmark’s puck carriers, not allowing many clean looks at goal. After some early chances, Lilli Welcke broke the deadlock in the final minute of the first period, thanks to a nice driving play by her twim sister, Luisa, sending Germany into the second period with a 1-0 lead.

Denmark was found chasing the game in the middle frame, as Germany put 15 shots on goal to the Danes’ one. Just like the opening period, it took Träger der Adler until the final minute of the frame to find the back of the net, as a blast from former St. Cloud State product Laura Kluge, with the player advantage, put Germany up 2-0 after two.

The Germans kept their distance in the third, as Ronja Hark, Jule Schiefer and Emily Nix found the back of the net, securing a convincing win.

Kluge was named Germany’s player of the game, ending up with a goal and an assist. Nix also registered two points for the Germans, with Sandra Abstreiter picking up the win in net after making just 11 saves.

Nicoline Jensen got Denmark on the board with her second goal of the tournament in the third, earning player of the game honors. The 31-year-old was playing in her 150th game with the Danish National Team.

Nordstrom was credited with 39 saves on 43 shots.

Denmark gets a needed two days off before taking on China on Sunday, while Germany meets with Japan on Saturday.

Three Stars

1. Zhan Jiahui, G, China: For a team projected to go winless in the group, Zhan kept her team in the game on Thursday. The Dartmouth commit will be vital in whether or not China avoids relegation.
2. Ella Shelton, D, Canada: The PWHL New York blueliner had a fantastic start to the tournament, scoring three points against Finland in the nightcap. Shelton has slowly become a serious scoring threat this year in the PWHL, only bolstering her status as an excellent two-way defender.
3. Ronja Hark, D, Germany: I really likee Germany’s ability to control the puck, and force Denmark to make mistakes in the offensive zone, and Hark was the forefront of the team’s defense. The ECDC Memmingen product led the team in minutes (23:21), was a plus-three and scored a goal and an assist.

For the full schedule, go to IIHF.com