Quarterfinals Locked In

The preliminary round has officially wrapped as the Canadians bounced back against Finland to secure the second overall spot in Group A. Here’s a look at the win and how the Quarterfinals look. 

Canada remained without Marie-Philip Poulin who sustained a lower-body injury against Czechia, though it seems to be for precautionary measures which is a good sign for the Canadians. In her absence, wife Laura Stacey has continued their pre-game tradition of picking up the pucks after warmup. 

The Gosling, O’Neill, and Gardiner line in the spotlight, even with limited minutes for the Canada team, finding the first of the game. On defence, Sophie Jaques continued to stun on both ends of the ice, including an assist on Daryl Watts goal that doubled Canada’s lead. Not long after, Kristen O’Neill found another one for the fourth line with the assists from Ella Shelton and Julia Gosling. 

Heading into the final frame Canada found another early with Emily Clark’s first of the tournament. Clark then found another to take the win 5-0 over Finland. In net, Ann-Renee Desbeins bounced back from the loss against the US with a shutout heading into the quarterfinals. 

Canada’s fourth line was a major factor in today’s game, through a lack of playing time, to continue their success on their hunt for gold they're gonna need to leverage this depth.

Quarterfinals 

Starting off the Quarterfinal round tomorrow is Czechia taking on Sweden. Czechia has struggled throughout the tournament against teams like Canada and the US while Sweden enters the Quarterfinal undefeated, in Group B. The standout for Czechia has been Montreal Victoire rookie Natálie Mlýnková, who is on a three game goal streak. While on the other side Minnesota-Duluth senior Thea Johansson has continued to stun with four goals and two assists for Sweden.

Also playing tomorrow is the USA as they take on the hosts, Italy. The US has continued to dominate throughout the tournament scoring five goals in every game, they are looking to go for a perfect gold while the hosts Italy have continued to make history starting the tournament with their first-ever win in women’s hockey at the Olympics, then again making the Quarterfinal. The standout for the hosts so far has been Penn State freshman, Matilde Fantin, who has three goals in the tournament. While for the US the efforts have been spread out across the board, most recently Hannah Bilka seems to have the hot stick scoring three goals in the last two games, including her first Olympic goal. 

Moving to Saturday the first match of the day is Canada taking on Germany. Canada will look to continue their momentum as they face Germany in the Quarterfinal Saturday. Germany has been able to find success throughout the tournament with Laura Kluge and Nina Jobst-Smith leading the way. 

Rounding out the Quarterfinal is Finland taking on Switzerland. Finland has struggled to find the back of the net through the preliminary round scoring only three goals. The highlight for the Finnish team has been Sanni Ahola in net who has blocked 75 of 87 shots in her three starts. The name may sound familiar as Ahola is the backup goaltender for the Ottawa Charge. In her two PWHL starts she has recorded 51 saves with a 0.927 save percentage. On the other side Alina Müller has been the standout scoring two of Switzerland’s five goals in the preliminary round. 

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