Canada defeats Sweden and advances to the semifinals in the women’s hockey world – Team Canada
Bo Amstrup/Ritzau Scanpix via AP
Canada advances to semifinals at 2022 IIHF Women’s World Championship in Denmark.
Jocelyne Larocque, Sarah Potomak and Erin Ambrose scored in Canada’s 3-0 quarter-final win over Sweden on Thursday. Goalie Ann-Renée Desbiens returned to the Canadian field where she faced just nine shots in the shutout victory.
Canada, the defending world champions, will face Switzerland in the semifinal game on Saturday at 12:00 PM ET. In the other semifinal, the United States will face the Czech Republic. The winners of the semi-finals advance to Sunday’s gold competition.
Despite outscoring Sweden 57-9 overall, the Canadians led just 1-0 after one period and 2-0 after two. With the game still close, Canada pressed hard offensively for much of the third, firing 24 shots on the Swedish net.
The Canadians dominated possession in the first period and outscored Sweden 14-1. After failing to connect on a pair of power plays earlier in the frame, Larocque opened the scoring at 17:11. Renata Fast sent a pass from the goal line to Larocque in the circle who beat Swedish goalkeeper Emma Söderberg, giving the veteran Canadian defender her first career goal at a women’s world.
Laura Stacey drew two penalties in the second period but the Canadians were unable to convert on either advantage. Then at 10:44, Paula Bergström put an illegal hit on Kristin O’Neill to send Canada to another power play — but the Canadians again struggled to create quality chances.
With 6:40 left in the period, the puck was loose in the Swedish crease but no one in red managed to get a stick on it. Moments later, with 6:04 left, Potomak entered the offensive zone with speed, got around a Swedish defender and then beat Söderberg with a backhand deke to give Canada a 2-0 advantage.
Canada took two penalties late in the period, forcing Desbiens to make a couple of big stops to maintain the two-goal lead.
Canada went to a sixth power play at 3:34 of the third and nearly got a third goal, forcing Söderberg to make several saves during a scramble in the crease.
The Canadians pressed hard offensively throughout the period and were rewarded for their efforts at 13:10. Ambrose had the puck on the line and found a clean shooting lane to give Canada a 3-0 lead.
In Thursday’s other quarterfinals, Switzerland defeated Japan 2-1 in penalty kicks, the United States hammered Hungary 12-1 and the Czech Republic defeated Finland 2-1 in overtime.