Japan National Women’s Hockey Team

The table is set. Dinner is ready. Time to feast on four fantastic women’s games in the quarter-finals. Winners will be competing for a medal after the semi-finals. Losers? Well, you know the drill. They go home.

USA vs. Czechia

The History: This will be the first ever meeting between the teams at either the Olympics or Women’s Worlds.

USA: The Americans might be smarting a bit form their 4-2 loss to Canada on Tuesday, but by the time of puck drop for this game their only emotion will be determination and resolve to make it to the gold-medal game. Apart from that score, they have done everything right. Coach Joel Johnson has used all three of his goalies, and they have combined to allow just six goals in four games. Up front, Amanda Kessel leads the team with six points and Alex Carpenter has four goals. Oddly, the U.S. is last in penalties, having taken only nine minors, but they have also surrendered three goals on seven chances. No matter how you slice it, however, the Americans are overwhelming favourites.

Czechia: The Czechs are happy to be here. This is their first Olympics, and they have surprised fans by winning two games, losing to Denmark, 3-2, and losing to Japan in a shootout. They have scored only ten goals in four games and have yet to score even once on the power play. Tereza Vanisova leads the team with five points, but overall the scoring is spread thin. Goalie Klara Peslarova has played in all four games and has a sparkling 1.18 GAA, but her life is about to get a lot busier now that Czechia is playing a Group A nation. It will take a miracle for the Czechs to win this game, but a QF appearance is a very respectable result for the team all the same.

Quotable: “We will put up a good fight. We have never played the U.S., and it will be a good challenge. They are a great team. We have to stick to our playbook to have a chance of success.”—Czech forward Alena Mills

Canada vs. Sweden

The History: Canada has won all five Olympics meetings by a cumulative score of 41-6, including a 4-1 win in the gold-medal game in Turin in 2006 and a 13-1 win in 2010, their most recent Olympics meeting. In World Women’s play, they are 9-0 against Sweden, but amazingly they have not played in WW since 2009.

Canada: What can you say about the current Women’s World gold medallists? They are firing on all cylinders. Their 4-0 record here in Beijing is by a cumulative score of 33-5. Goalie Ann-Renee Desbiens has been fantastic, especially against the United States when she stopped 51 of 53 shots. Up front, Canada boasts the top seven scorers, led by Natalie Spooner with 11 points and Sarah Fillier and Brianne Jenner with five goals each. Their one weakness to date is that they have incurred 24 penalties, second-most in the tournament, but they have allowed only two power-play goals against while scoring six. This is a team that can do it all, and as with the first QF, a loss here would constitute a staggering upset.

Sweden: Never having beaten Canada and most recently having been demoted to Division I-A, the Swedes are also happy to be here. They are a young and emerging team with a bright future. Emma Soderberg is clearly the goalie of the future, as are young stars like 19-year-old Linnea Johansson and 21-year-old Maja Nylen-Persson. The team, however, has scored only seven goals and generated only 109 shots through four games. To the good, they have yet to surrender a power-play goal against. Nevertheless, they will need a “mirakel” to advance further.

Quotable: “It couldn’t feel better. I don’t think many people would believe we’d stand here in a quarter-final. Now we’ll just go for it. I’m so proud of this team. It’s a tough game. It is not beautiful, but we made it.”—Swedish forward Michelle Lowenhielm.

ROC vs. Switzerland

The History: The teams have each won two games of four previous matchups at the Olympics, while ROC/Russia holds a 6-3-1 advantage in Women’s Worlds play. More important, however, Switzerland rallied to beat ROC 3-2 in overtime at the 2021 WW, but a week ago they lost 5-2 at the start of this preliminary round.

ROC: ROC has to feel good about its win over Switzerland on 4 February. They took a 2-2 game and scored three unanswered goals to win in their most offensive game so far. Their goaltending has been spotty, though. It would be unreasonable for coach Yevgeni Bobariko to rely on 17-year-old Daria Gredzen, but the other two—Valeria Merkusheva and Maria Sorokina—have not had strong tournaments to date. But perhaps the biggest concern for ROC is the changeability of their lineup. They have been severely hampered by absent players and have produced a different roster for each game. Who will play in this game? Not even Bobariko knows at this point.

Switzerland: The flip side to the earlier game is that the Swiss rallied from 1-0 and 2-1 down to tie the game early in the second period, only to let it slip away. And they have a top line of captain Lara Stalder, Alina Muller, and Phoebe Stanz that has been playing well. Andrea Brandli has been steady, although busy, in the Swiss goal, but scoring has been their downfall. They had only three goals in their first three games, all losses, and managed to equal that number in an important 3-2 win over Finland last Monday. If they can get an early goal, play solid defence, and be the better team on special teams, they’ll have a great chance of moving on.

Quotable: “Against Switzerland we capitalized on our chances. Against Finland we didn’t manage to score. We have to calm down a bit, and we need to score goals to be able to play a good game.”—ROC captain Anna Shokina.

Finland vs. Japan

The History: The Finns have won the only three meetings between the teams in women’s hockey, starting with an 11-1 thumping at the Nagano Olympics and followed by 1-0 and 6-1 wins at the Women’s Worlds.

Finland: The Finns had a terrible start, losing three in a row before righting the ship with an impressive 5-0 win over the short-handed ROC. They have a great goalie in Anni Keisala, but she has been inconsistent. At the back end, they have Jenni Hiirkoski, who can play half a game at full effectiveness, and up front they have the firepower to put the puck in the net. Their top scorer is Susanna Tapani, with three goals, all on the power play. In all, they have six goals with the extra skater, tied with Canada for most in the tournament. This should be a Finland win, but given their rough start and the good play of Japan, nothing can be taken for granted.

Japan: Japan finished first in Group B with three wins and a shootout loss, the same as at last year’s Women’s Worlds in Calgary, their best preliminary round ever. And they did so with fine goaltending from Nana Fujimoto, who has played almost the entire tournament to date, She has allowed only five goals and has a sparkling 1.25 GAA. Haruka and Ayaka Toko have led the offense, scoring four of the team’s 13 goals. They have also excelled in special teams, being last in penalties taken, and among the best in terms of penalty killing and power play effectiveness.

Quotable: “They will be a tough opponent. They are skillful; they skate well; they seem to have a good team spirit. We have to analyze them. We have two days off now and need to focus on them and our own team and make a plan to beat them.”—Finland coach Juuso Toivola.

Source: iihf.com

They say it’s a game of centimetres, but less than one centimetre was the difference between Japan and Czechia finishing first in Group B. Hanae Kubo scored the only goal in a shootout – and it barely crossed the line – while Nana Fujimoto stopped all five Czech shooters after stopping 36 of 38 shots through 65 minutes of hockey as Japan beat Czechia 3-2.

“I was a little bit frustrated when I failed to score in the shootout against China, so I was more determined today,” said Kubo.

As a result, Japan finishes first place in Group B and in the quarter-finals will face the third-place team from Group A, still to be determined. Czechia finishes second in Group B and will face the USA, the second-place team from Group A.

“The fact that we don’t have to play Canada or the USA is a big accomplishment for our team,” said Japanese head coach Yuji Iizuka.

Twice Japan took the lead and twice Czechia tied it. During regulation time, both Japanese goals were scored on power plays by Haruka Toko, with older sister Ayaka Toko drawing assists. Denisa Krizova and Natalie Mlynkova replied for the Czechs.

After yesterday’s uninspired 3-2 loss to Denmark, Czech head coach Tomas Pacina called his team out for looking past their opponent. The Czech women responded with a much stronger effort, outshooting Japan 38-24 through 65 minutes of hockey and also blocking several shots, but couldn’t quite get the job done.

“The effort was there, for sure, but we still struggled with the finish, with the killer instinct,” said Pacina, whose team held a wide edge in shots all four group games but won only two of them. “The Japanese were tired today and we weren’t. We had lots of energy but were just not loose enough. Other teams score so easily, but we struggle so hard to score.”

It was Japan who got the game’s first good offensive chances on an early power play, and opened the scoring at the four-minute mark. With the puck loose in the slot and the Czech penalty killers scrambling, the Japanese took several shots that were either stopped by Klara Peslarova or blocked, but finally, after having her first attempt blocked, Haruka Toko got the puck back and flipped it over a sprawling Peslarova.

“The power play is our best opportunity to score,” said Toko. “Scoring the first goal was very important for us.”

A scary moment occurred just shy of the 13-minute mark when Czech linemates Alena Mills and Klara Hymlarova collided in the neutral zone. Mills got up immediately but Hymlarova laid motionless on her back for a while. She was finally helped to her feet and off the ice but appeared groggy and did not return to the game. Kristyna Patkova took her spot on the top line with Mills and Vendula Pribylova.

After a relatively evenly-played first period, the Czechs really went to the attack in the first half of the second period, got some momentum from an early power play and tied the score 6:09 in. Carrying the puck to the net, Denisa Krizova fought off a Japanese back-checker and went to her backhand. The shot from in close got caught tangled in Fujimoto’s equipment and eventually fell behind her and across the goal line.

“I thought we were controlling the game. I just wish we scored another goal or two to seal the deal,” said Mills. “We played better than our last game, for sure, but not scoring is frustrating.”

The Czechs nearly lost another player in the second period when Natalie Mlynkova took a slap shot to the side of her helmet while sliding to block it. However, after play was stopped, she was able to get to her feet and skated off the ice on her own accord, returning to the ice later in the period.

In the latter half of the second period, the Japanese pushed back thanks to three straight Czech penalties, including two 43 seconds apart that resulted in a 5-on-3 for the last 55 seconds of the period. But under enormous pressure, the Czech penalty-killers blocked several shots and Peslarova was sharp when she had to be.

However, the Japanese two-player advantage continued into the third period and Japan regained the lead, and it was the Toko sisters who made it happen. After taking a pass from older sister Ayaka, Haruka Toko’s first shot hit the goalpost. She then grabbed the rebound out of a scramble in front and shot it past a diving Peslarova.

“I spoke with my linemates during the intermission about the situation because 5-on-3 is such a great chance to score,” said Toko. “We absolutely needed a goal there and I was so happy to score it.”

The Czechs went back to the attack, however, and five and a half minutes later, the game was tied again. After a faceoff in the Japanese zone, Mlynkova’s shot hit a stick and fluttered through the air and over the shoulder of Fujimoto.

Both teams had power plays to follow and generated little in the way of grade-A scoring chances, but right after returning to the ice, Tereza Vanisova took a breakaway pass and skated in alone on Fujimoto, only to shoot high and wide with about 5:20 to play.

In the second round of the shootout, Kubo skated in on Peslarova and aimed for the goalie’s five-hole. Peslarova appeared to stop it, but the puck grew little legs and crawled over the line, coming to rest with just a little bit of white visible between puck and line. Otherwise, both goalies were perfect. Mills was the fifth and final shooter for Czechia, denied by the blocker of Fujimoto.

“She did a great job today and she helped our team a lot,” Toko said about the Japanese goalie. “Especially in the penalty shootout. She was perfect and we are so fortunate to have her.”

About finishing first in the group and drawing the third seed as a quarter-final opponent, Toko said: “For us, it’s so difficult to play against the USA and Canada, so now we have a little better chance to win. We will see who we play later.”

As for her team’s approach to the quarter-finals, Mills said: “We’ve never played the US and it’s going to be a challenge, but we’ve got to stick to our playbook. I think that’s our only chance to put up a fight against them.”

Source: iihf.com