IIHF – USA surpasses Sweden
Outside of the physical, both teams also showed their offensive prowess.
The teams traded goals in the first two periods, but Peyton Compton gave the Americans the lead for good at 16:31 of the second period.
Alexandra Lalonde dug the puck out of the left corner and fed it to Compton who broke against the gap. The native of Sanford, Florida slipped and slid the puck past goaltender Ida Henriksson to make it 3-2.
Lucia DiGirolamo doubled the American lead 5:11 into the third, firing a sharp angled shot down the right goal line from Henriksson and in.
Scannell added an insurance goal on the power play midway through the third period to make it 5-2. Finley McCarthy punched in an empty netter with 56 seconds left to play.
The Americans struck first with a power-play goal 6:28 into the contest.
A rebound from Scannell’s goal-line shot bounced into the high gap, where Molly Jordan fired back. When Ava Lindsay drove forward, she tipped the puck, which bounced against defender Emma Goding’s shin guard and skipped past Henriksson.
Sweden then clinched the game with a shorthanded goal late in the opening period.
Emilia Bergeby Hallbeck broke the American power play at the blue line and carried the puck on a 2-on-1. She found Rehn on the left wing, and the forward turned the puck past Bergmann at 15:38 in the first period.
“We had a really good start and they did a really good job of pushing back.” Lachapelle said. “We loved the pace of the game today – it was back and forth.”
The USA regained the lead midway through the second period. Samantha Taber carried the puck to the lane and using a screen in front, fired a wrist shot. It hit Henriksson in the right shoulder and deflected in the upper right corner.
Moments after the first penalty of Sweden’s first of two 5-on-3 opportunities expired, Sweden capitalized with a power-play goal 14:47 into the second period. With Jordan suspended for roughing, Mira Hallin pounced on a rebound at the left edge of the crease and tapped it past an out-of-position Bergmann.
Compton would answer just under two minutes later to put the Americans ahead for good.
Hallin finished with an assist as well and Linnea Natt Och Dag also scored for Sweden, who face Canada on Monday at 20:00.
“We have to work together (as a team) and not play individually like we did today,” Sweden coach Andreas Karlsson said.
The USA meets Finland, also on Monday, at 16:00.
“We think every game will be fast and physical,” Lachapelle said. “We liked the way we played physically and we want to keep doing that.”