France's Olympic Hopes Dashed after OT Loss to Germany

With their fourth loss of the tournament in their final preliminary round game, France's Olympic tournament in women's hockey is complete. A 2-1 overtime loss to Germany on Monday eliminated France from quarterfinal contention, ending their tournanent with an 0-4 record.

Alice Philbert got her fourth straight start in net for France, while Sandra Abstreiter started her third consecutive game for Germany. It was a physical game, with five penalties in the first period alone. After a successful Germany penalty kill just over four minutes in, France found themselves shorthanded for much of the rest of the opening frame.

They'd take one penalty, clear that one, and have a few minutes of breathing room before another. Léa Villiot's penalty for an illegal hit was just six seconds in the rearview before Chloé Aurard-Bushee put the team right back on the kill, also for an illegal hit. Finally, on Clara Rozier's second penalty of the game, Germany found the back of the net.

You'd expect that offense to come from no one else but Laura Kluge, the team's most important offensive player. Kluge, an alternate captain, scored on a one-timer off a feed from Daria Gleißner, Germany's captain, to make it 1-0 on the power play.

Germany held that lead through the second period and nearly halfway into the third period, powering through two penalty kills of their own to maintain the score. France's Estelle Duvin picked a fantastic time to score her first Olympic goal, a beautiful tally that tricked Abstreiter and tied it at one.

France survived a late penalty kill on a delaying the game call, forcing the gaem to overtime. It took just 1:07 of the extra frame for Germany to snatch the win, as Katarina Jobst-Smith scored the game-winning goal. The Welcke twins assisted, with Lilli Welcke recording her first Olympic point as a result.

Abstreiter made 13 saves for the win, while Philbert stopped 45 of 47 shots faced.

France will finish the tournament in 10th place. Overall, Philbert made 167 saves for a 3.00 GAA and .933 save percentage in 239:47. France's leading scorers were defender Gabrielle de Serres, who had two goals, and forwards Estelle Duvin and Manon le Scodan, who each had two points.

Germany's hope of making it to the quarterfinal is still alive, but will depend on the results of Tuesday's games.

The Rest of the Day's Games

Italy 3, Japan 2

Powered by a pair of goals from Penn State's Matilde Fantin, Italy narrowly beat Japan to nab their second win on home ice and clinch a quarterfinal spot. Fantin opened the scoring more than halfway through the first period, then doubled the lead late in the frame on a power play goal. Japan mounted a comeback, but Kristin Della Rovere scored the eventual game-winner just 37 seconds into the second period.

Rui Ukita and Akane Shiga scored for Japan. Gabriella Durante made 27 saves for France, while Miyuu Masuhara stopped 20 shots. This marks the first time ever that Italy has reached the Olympic quarterfinals in women's hockey - made even more special by the fact that they're doing so at home.

USA 5, Switzerland 0

USA continues to be absolutely dominant, this time overpowering the Swiss with a three-goal third period. The offense started a bit slower, with Haley Winn recording her first Olympic goal at 6:04 of the first period. That stood as the lone goal until 14:08 of the second period, when Joy Dunne scored her second goal of the tournament. Hannah Bilka, Alex Carpenter and Caroline Harvey scored in a span of 6:25 in the third period to seal the win.

Gwyneth Philips made her Olympic debut in net, stopping 20 shots in 58:12. The US gave Ava McNaughton her first taste of Olympic action, as she went in for the final 1:48 and made one save. At the other end of the ice, Andrea Brändli made 45 saves for Switzerland.

Canada 5, Czechia 1

A four-goal first period helped Canada beat Czechia 5-1 to maintain their undefeated record. Kristin O'Neill opened the scoring before Sarah Fillier and Laura Stacey scored within a minute of one another. Julia Gosling added one late in the period on a two-player advantage to make it 4-0. She followed it up with another just 17 seconds into the second period (still on the power play) to seal it. Natálie Mlýnková had the lone goal, a power play tally, for Czechia.

Of critical importance, though, are a couple potential injuries that happened during Monday's game. Marie-Philip Poulin didn't return after taking a high hit from Kristyna Kaltounkova late in the first period; her status for Tuesday's game is unknown. Poulin came back to the bench and tried a brief skate, but did not see another shift. Erin Ambrose was also injured when she took a skate blade to the back of the leg. For Czechia, Sára Čajanová and Barbora Juříčková were also both injured.

Tuesday, Feb. 10 Games

6:10 AM ET: Japan vs. Sweden
10:40 AM ET: Italy vs. Germany
2:10 PM ET: Canada vs. USA
3:10 PM ET: Finland vs. Switzerland

Game to Watch: It has to be USA/Canada, right? Honestly though, all four games have meaning, as most teams will finish the preliminary round on Tuesday and there's still a lot at stake in the standings. It's particularly important for the Group B teams, as the final determination of which three teams make it to the quarterfinals will be made. But, if you can only watch one game, it's hard to miss the North American battle, which could be a precursor to our eventual gold medal match-up.