GAME NOTES: CANADA VS. SWEDEN (SEPTEMBER 1)

TV: TSN | Stream: TSN Direct

After finishing second in Group A in the preliminary round, Canada’s National Women’s Team gets the playoffs started with a quarterfinal matchup against Sweden at the 2022 IIHF Women’s World Championship.

LAST GAME

Canada dropped its prelim finale, falling 5-2 to the United States on Tuesday. Sarah Fillier continued her offensive streak, burying a rebound to open the scoring and tie for the tournament goal-scoring lead, before Ella Shelton punched in a goal of her own on the power play to give the Canadians a two-goal advantage after 20 minutes. But the offence dried up from there, and the U.S. scored five unanswered goals to take top spot in the group.

Sweden is coming off a 3-0 loss to undefeated Czechia on Tuesday to close out its preliminary schedule. Emma Soderberg stopped 21 out of 23 shots, but the Swedes couldn’t solve Klara Peslarova on 27 tries and suffered their first loss.

LAST MEETING

The Canadians and Swedes last met in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, with Canada earning the 11-0 win. Brianne Jenner and Sarah Fillier each recorded hat tricks, while Marie-Philip Poulin and Sarah Nurse tallied four assists each. Emerance Maschmeyer earned the shutout, turning away the 11 shots she faced.

WHAT TO WATCH

Maschmeyer and Ann-Renée Desbiens both got two starts in the prelims, leaving Troy Ryan and his coaching staff with a decision to make for the playoff round. Desbiens has the better numbers, with a 1.00 goals-against average and .920 save percentage (Maschmeyer is at 2.02 and .892), but the Albertan looked good against the U.S., preserving the Canadian lead early and suffering a little bit of bad puck luck.

For Sweden, Hanna Olsson has been the breakout star, recording four goals (tied with Fillier and Czech sniper Natalia Mlynkova for the tournament lead) and five points in the prelims. The 23-year-old had a hat trick in an opening win over Denmark and showed she can finish under pressure, scoring shootout winners in victories over Germany and Hungary.

A LOOK BACK

Canada is a perfect 9-0 against Sweden at women’s worlds, outscoring the Swedes 74-6. The last time these two teams met at the worlds was in 2009, when eventual tournament MVP Carla MacLeod tallied a goal and four assists in a 7-0 win.

MacLeod’s five-point performance is one of five such efforts over the years; Jennifer Botterill holds the single-game high with six (a hat trick and three assists) at the 2000 4 Nations Cup, while Meghan Agosta (3-2—5) and Hayley Wickenheiser (1-4—5) both had five in a 13-1 win at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

All-time record: Canada leads 77-2-1
Canada goals: 503
Sweden goals: 68