Sweden Goes Top of Group B, Defeats Host Italy 6-1

Sweden and Italy faced off on Saturday for the top spot in Group B. Both had won their first game of the tournament, and a win would put one of them in the driver's seat to finish first in Group B.

When the dust settled, Sweden had made a resounding statement, reaffirming that they are the team to beat in Group B by defeating hosts Italy, 6-1.

With the home crowd at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena behind them, Italy came out hot and were able to hem Sweden into their own zone on multiple shifts in the first period. The game was even, and the teams traded opportunities until Sweden broke the ice around the halfway mark of the first period.

Throughout their first two games, Sweden has created a lot of offense above the circles in the offensive zone by getting their defenders involved. On their first goal against Italy, Hannah Thuvik carried the puck up towards the blue line and reversed it to defender Jessica Adolfsson, who was sliding down the boards from the blue line towards the net and ripped a shot past Gabriella Durante in net for the opening goal. Italy continued to push to close out the first, but they weren't able to find an equalizer. After one, Sweden led 1-0, and the shots were 10-9 in favor of Sweden.

Sweden came out flying in the second period. At 9:59 of the period, Sofie Lundin curled low in her own zone, got a pass from behind the net, and began what appeared to be an innocuous rush up the ice. But Italy was not able to slow Lundin down in the neutral zone, and she made them pay. After deking past an Italian defender in the neutral zone, Lundin sniped one past Durante, from a similar spot to Adolfsson's opener, and it was 2-0 Sweden.

Unfortunately for Italy, neutral zone struggles were a bit of a theme for the second period. In the first, Italy had been able to chip pucks out of their own zone, get a line change, and defend Sweden in transition and keep them out of the middle of the ice in their own zone. In the second, however, Italy got caught in their own zone often, and with the long change, chipping the puck out into the neutral zone wasn't enough to get tired players off the ice. This meant Italy wasn't able to slow Sweden down in the neutral zone as they had in the first period, and Sweden was able to sustain long stretches in the offensive zone throughout the second period.

Much like their second goal, Sweden's third goal came in transition. Italy got the puck out of their own zone, but tired legs and feet didn't quite get the puck all the way deep into the Sweden zone. The puck turned over at the Swedish blueline, and Ida Karlson made a great play to find Sara Hjalmarsson, who was soon streaking through the neutral zone the other way. She blew by what looked like a tired and poorly timed step up by an Italian defender, and ripped one past Durante again for a 3-0 lead.

Italy refused to go away quietly, however, and after Sweden's third goal, they got back to what had been working for them in the first: pressuring the Sweden defenders and throwing the puck on the net. Shortly after Sweden went up 3-0, Italy forward Kristin Della Rovere picked up a puck down low in the offensive zone, wheeled around the zone, and took a shot from the blue line. The shot was blocked, but the rebound bounced back out to Italian defender Franziska Stocker, who hammered a slap shot past Ebba Svensson Träff in the Swedish net to make it 3-1.

Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena was rocking with Italy back in it, but just over a minute later, Sweden quieted the crowd and took over control of the game. Once again, a tired group of Italian skaters, at the end of a long shift, had a couple of chances to get the puck out of their own zone but were unable to do so. A blueline shot from Linnéa Andersson was blocked, but the puck bounced right to Hanna Olsson, who continued around the top of the zone and ripped a shot from the top of the circles, almost the same spot Sofie Lundin had scored from earlier in the period, to make the game 4-1. The goal sucked the life out of the building and halted Italy's momentum. From that point forward, it was all Sweden.

Thea Johansson added two more insurance goals for Sweden in the third period to finish off Italy, 6-1. The shots were tight after one period, but Sweden took over in the second and third, outshooting Italy 37-10 in those periods, and 47-19 for the game.

With the win, Sweden takes a commanding lead atop Group B, with a chance to improve to 3-0 with a win over France tomorrow. Even with the loss, Italy still has a chance to advance out of Group B; they're tied with Germany and Japan with one win and one loss.

UMD’s Ida Karlsson and Thea Johansson to Represent Sweden at the Winter Olympic Games

The UMD duo will be making their Olympic debuts for Sweden when the games begin on Feb. 5.

The Ice GardenGiselle Velazquez

The Rest of the Day: 3 Games

Germany 5, Japan 2

In the day's opener, Germany bounced back from their opening-game loss to Sweden and pulled off a bit of an upset against Japan. Germany jumped out to an early lead with three first-period goals. They scored two more in the second to go up 5-0 before Japan got back into it with two late goals to end the period. Japan pushed hard in the third, outshooting Germany 8-5, but Sandra Arbstreiter stood tall, stopping all 8 shots in the third period and 20 of 22 on the night.

Offensively, Germany was powered by Nicola Hadraschek's two goals and Laura Kluge's four points (one goal and three assists). Both Germany and Japan are 1-1, and have tomorrow off.

United States of America 5, Finland 0

The United States dominated this one from start to finish. Hilary Knight scored her 14th Olympic goal, which tied the record for most Olympic goals in US Women's hockey history. Abbey Murphy and Taylor Heise also scored their first Olympic goals, and Megan Keller led the way with three points.

This was Finland's first game of the tournament, as their opener against Canada was postponed due to the norovirus outbreak amongst their team. This game was always going to be a tough ask for Finland, and the norovirus outbreak and the chaos it produced certainly didn't help them either. If they can get healthy, I expect them to be much better as they settle into this tournament. Sanni Ahola was fantastic in the net, making 41 saves.

Canada 4, Switzerland 0

Canada finally opened their tournament with about as dominant a 4-0 win as you can get, outshooting Switzerland 55-6 (shots were 25-3 in the third period). Sarah Fillier and Daryl Watts each had a goal and an assist. I did marvel at one point that Canada finished with 55 shots on goal and only one even-strength goal, but at that point, it sounds like I am just actively seeking out things to be frustrated by. It was a strong start for this Canadian team.

For Switzerland, it's gotta be hard to bounce back after that emotional shootout victory over Czechia yesterday, and they looked exhausted by the end of the third period. They only managed six shots, but Saskia Maurer made 51 saves and was once again really good in net.

Games Scheduled for Sunday, February 8th

🇫🇷 France vs. 🇸🇪 Sweden at 2:40 PM (8:40 AM EST)

🇨🇿 Czechia vs. 🇫🇮 Finland at 9:10 PM (3:10 PM EST)

Game To Watch

🇨🇿 Czechia vs. 🇫🇮 Finland: Both of these teams could really use a win. Czechia dropped its opener against the United States before surrendering a two-goal third-period lead and losing a heartbreaker in a shootout against Switzerland. Finland has had an eventful start to these Olympic Games, but they finally opened their tournament earlier today with a resounding loss to the United States. A win tomorrow will help begin to build some positive momentum for one of these teams.