photo: Andre Ringuette/IIHF
It wasn’t quite the dagger the last time these teams met, but Germany’s 5-1 win over Denmark this afternoon at Adirondack Bank Center in Utica, New York, most certainly has put the Danes in a precarious situation.
Just promoted this season from Division I-A, Denmark falls to 0-2 so far and will be desperate for a win against China when the teams meet on Sunday.
For Germany, the win to start their 2024 Women’s Worlds is a step in the right direction in Group B, where the top three teams advance to the quarter-finals and the bottom two get demoted to I-A for 2025. They play their second game on Saturday, against Japan.
The Germans scored four out of five possible ways--short-handed, power play, even strength, and empty net. All that was missing to complete the "team quintella" was a penalty-shot goal.
"I think we played really well," said German forward Laura Kluge, one of the goalscorers. "It was a good team effort. All four lines play really, really well, and we tried to play aggressive. I think we did a good job of that. We also brought in a couple of new players from last year, and I think they bring a lot of energy."
The last time these teams played was in Herning in 2022 on the final day of the preliminary round of the Women's Worlds. Tied 2-2 as the dying seconds ticked off the clock, the Danes were elated as a tie after regulation would have given them the final spot in the playoffs and relegated the Germans.
Instead, Tanja Eisenschmid scored with 0.1 seconds left on the clock, giving the Germans a stunning 3-2 win in regulation, keeping them up for 2023, and relegating the Danes.
"We were not efficient with our chances are we need to be more desperate," said Danish captain Nicoline Jensen. "We need to dig deeper and find a way to score goals. That's our problem right now, so it's a little frustrating. I'm still proud of the way we work hard for each other. We sacrifice ourselves, and we're trying to block pucks, but at this level you just have to score as well."
Today’s game started cautiously, and it was dominated by Germany which kept the puck in the offensive end for long stretches. Only the fine play of goalie Emma-Sofie Nordstrom kept the game scoreless. She was peppered with 17 shots, only the last one eluding her during a wild final minute of play.
Denmark had a late power play and had a great chance to open the scoring, but Nordstrom’s colleague at the other end, Sandra Abstreiter, made a nice save off Frederikke Foss from in close. The Germans took the puck down the ice and got a shot off, but Nordstrom couldn’t control the rebound. In a mad scramble, Lilli Welcke banged it in with just 14.5 seconds remaining to take Germany to the dressing room with a well-earned 1-0 lead.
In the second, Nordstrom was again stellar, but the story of the period was her team’s lack of discipline. After an early power play that failed to click, the Danes incurred four minors, giving the Germans ample time to increase their lead. It took them until the final minute, again, but they doubled their lead with 49.5 seconds left thanks to a big blast at the top of the circle from Laura Kluge, playing in her 30th Women’s Worlds game.
"I was trying to come in with a little bit more speed than I would do in the shifts before," Kluge explained, "and I was just trying to gain momentum and then get a shot off. My linemate did a really good job of screening. So there was a lot of good work there."
The Germans added a valuable third goal early in the final period whenn Ronja Hark's long shot made it through traffic and found an opening between Nordstrtom's pads at 4:46. They made it 4-0 at 12:42 thanks to a tough play by Celina Haider. She took a heavy hit along the boards to get the puck to Jule Schiefer, and Schiefer snapped a quick shot through a screen to add to the tally.
The Danes got a late power play, and coach Bjorn Edlund saw little to lose in pulling his goalie to create a two-player advantage. Indeed, they moved the puck around well, and Jensen wired a high shot over Abstreiter's glove to get the Danes on the board.
Nordstrom came to the bench after the ensuing faceoff at centre, but this time the Danes paid the price as Emily Nix found the empty net from her own end to make it a 5-1 game.
Just promoted this season from Division I-A, Denmark falls to 0-2 so far and will be desperate for a win against China when the teams meet on Sunday.
For Germany, the win to start their 2024 Women’s Worlds is a step in the right direction in Group B, where the top three teams advance to the quarter-finals and the bottom two get demoted to I-A for 2025. They play their second game on Saturday, against Japan.
The Germans scored four out of five possible ways--short-handed, power play, even strength, and empty net. All that was missing to complete the "team quintella" was a penalty-shot goal.
"I think we played really well," said German forward Laura Kluge, one of the goalscorers. "It was a good team effort. All four lines play really, really well, and we tried to play aggressive. I think we did a good job of that. We also brought in a couple of new players from last year, and I think they bring a lot of energy."
The last time these teams played was in Herning in 2022 on the final day of the preliminary round of the Women's Worlds. Tied 2-2 as the dying seconds ticked off the clock, the Danes were elated as a tie after regulation would have given them the final spot in the playoffs and relegated the Germans.
Instead, Tanja Eisenschmid scored with 0.1 seconds left on the clock, giving the Germans a stunning 3-2 win in regulation, keeping them up for 2023, and relegating the Danes.
"We were not efficient with our chances are we need to be more desperate," said Danish captain Nicoline Jensen. "We need to dig deeper and find a way to score goals. That's our problem right now, so it's a little frustrating. I'm still proud of the way we work hard for each other. We sacrifice ourselves, and we're trying to block pucks, but at this level you just have to score as well."
Today’s game started cautiously, and it was dominated by Germany which kept the puck in the offensive end for long stretches. Only the fine play of goalie Emma-Sofie Nordstrom kept the game scoreless. She was peppered with 17 shots, only the last one eluding her during a wild final minute of play.
Denmark had a late power play and had a great chance to open the scoring, but Nordstrom’s colleague at the other end, Sandra Abstreiter, made a nice save off Frederikke Foss from in close. The Germans took the puck down the ice and got a shot off, but Nordstrom couldn’t control the rebound. In a mad scramble, Lilli Welcke banged it in with just 14.5 seconds remaining to take Germany to the dressing room with a well-earned 1-0 lead.
In the second, Nordstrom was again stellar, but the story of the period was her team’s lack of discipline. After an early power play that failed to click, the Danes incurred four minors, giving the Germans ample time to increase their lead. It took them until the final minute, again, but they doubled their lead with 49.5 seconds left thanks to a big blast at the top of the circle from Laura Kluge, playing in her 30th Women’s Worlds game.
"I was trying to come in with a little bit more speed than I would do in the shifts before," Kluge explained, "and I was just trying to gain momentum and then get a shot off. My linemate did a really good job of screening. So there was a lot of good work there."
The Germans added a valuable third goal early in the final period whenn Ronja Hark's long shot made it through traffic and found an opening between Nordstrtom's pads at 4:46. They made it 4-0 at 12:42 thanks to a tough play by Celina Haider. She took a heavy hit along the boards to get the puck to Jule Schiefer, and Schiefer snapped a quick shot through a screen to add to the tally.
The Danes got a late power play, and coach Bjorn Edlund saw little to lose in pulling his goalie to create a two-player advantage. Indeed, they moved the puck around well, and Jensen wired a high shot over Abstreiter's glove to get the Danes on the board.
Nordstrom came to the bench after the ensuing faceoff at centre, but this time the Danes paid the price as Emily Nix found the empty net from her own end to make it a 5-1 game.