Sweden and Denmark up Sunday showdown against Sweden
photo: © International Ice Hockey Federation / Elin Granebrandt
Denmark and Sweden are still undefeated in Group H of the Women's Final Olympic Qualification and will play for the Olympic berth on Sunday. Denmark beat Norway 3-1, and Sweden rolled over the Netherlands 8-0.
The afternoon game between Denmark and Norway was a close battle but in the end, the Danes came out on top. Denmark's Nikita Bergmann collected two points and Amalie Andersen scored the game winner. Norway's goaltender Ena Nystrom made 28 saves.
The first period was scoreless, and even if Denmark outshot Norway 9-6, both teams had their chances.
Norway came recharged to the second period and aided by a powerplay opportunity, scored first. Andrea Dalen received the puck on the blueline, took a step inside and fired a wrister top shelf, beating Nordstrom on the blocker side at 7:28. Emma Bergesen and Millie Rose Sirum were credited with assists.
But the longer the period progressed, the more Denmark took over the game, but Nystrom stood tall in Norway’s goal. Four minutes after Norway’s goal Nikita Bergmann went coast-to-coast and found Lilli Friis-Hansen at the doorstep, and despite being surrounded by four Norwegian players, she managed to tie the game at 11:32.
With two and a half minutes remaining, Denmark had an offensive zone faceoff which they won. Nicoline Jensen – who was named Denmark’s Player of the Game – passed the puck to Amalie Andersen, who sniped a wrister from the point and fired the puck top shelf to give Denmark the 2-1 lead.
Denmark chased an equalizer but couldn’t push the Danes to their heels and Bergmann’s empty-netter sealed the final score, 3-1, just 40 seconds before the final buzzer.
Norway’s captain Mathea Fischer was named her team’s Player of the Game.
The Danish win means that the chips are down on Sunday when the red-and-white Denmark take on the hosts, Sweden. Winner will win the group and secure a spot in the 2026 Olympic Games.
Netherlands – Sweden 0-8
Sweden refused to see the game against the Netherlands as a trap game. A least they refused to get trapped. The hosts dominated the game from the first minute to the last and won it 8-0.
Sara Hjalmarsson scored two goals and three points for Sweden and Eline Gabriele made 72 saves for the Netherlands. Team Sweden’s Sofie Lundin also collected three points. Ida Boman made nine saves en route to a shutout.
Scoring goals is never easy but it can be even more difficult in a game where one team is expected to only defend, and the other control the flow of the game. Sweden outshot the Netherlands 30-0 in the first period, and created scoring chances, but it took the hosts 13 minutes to solve Gabriele in the Dutch net.
Lisa Johansson sent a long cross-ice pass to Sara Hjalmarsson on the red line. She carried the puck into the zone, stepped inside and fired a wrister that beat Gabriele high on the blocker side at 13:28.
“We were told to shoot high on her,” Hjalmarsson told the Swedish TV after the first period. “I think our play got better with time.”
Hjalmarsson scored again three minutes later, but this time the puck stayed on the ice as she pushed in a rebound from the doorstep. Johansson was credited with an assist.
In the second period, it only took the Sweden nine minutes to score twice. Six and a half minutes in, the Netherland made a sloppy line change and Paula Bergstrom sent Thea Johansson got on a breakaway. Gabriele made the initial save, but Johansson slammed in the at 6:29.
Sixty-nine seconds later, Sofie Lundin redirected Maja Nylen Persson’s shot from the point to make it 4-0. Hjalmarsson picked up her third point of the game on powerplay, when she dropped the puck to Ida Karlsson who beat Gabriele with a wrister through the five-hole at12:39.
Paula Bergstrom scored her first goal in the Team Sweden uniform when her sneaky wrist shot beat Gabriele on the short side exactly three minutes later.
Josefin Bouveng made it 7-0 late in the third period when she beat Gabriele with a one-time from the doorstep, off a great feed from Mira Hallin with 4:34 remaining. Hilda Svensson scored Sweden’s eighth just seventeen seconds later when she went around the Dutch net and fired a wrister that beat Gabriele high on the blocker side to make it 8-0.
On Sunday, Sweden will play against Denmark, the other undefeated team in the tournament.
The afternoon game between Denmark and Norway was a close battle but in the end, the Danes came out on top. Denmark's Nikita Bergmann collected two points and Amalie Andersen scored the game winner. Norway's goaltender Ena Nystrom made 28 saves.
The first period was scoreless, and even if Denmark outshot Norway 9-6, both teams had their chances.
Norway came recharged to the second period and aided by a powerplay opportunity, scored first. Andrea Dalen received the puck on the blueline, took a step inside and fired a wrister top shelf, beating Nordstrom on the blocker side at 7:28. Emma Bergesen and Millie Rose Sirum were credited with assists.
But the longer the period progressed, the more Denmark took over the game, but Nystrom stood tall in Norway’s goal. Four minutes after Norway’s goal Nikita Bergmann went coast-to-coast and found Lilli Friis-Hansen at the doorstep, and despite being surrounded by four Norwegian players, she managed to tie the game at 11:32.
With two and a half minutes remaining, Denmark had an offensive zone faceoff which they won. Nicoline Jensen – who was named Denmark’s Player of the Game – passed the puck to Amalie Andersen, who sniped a wrister from the point and fired the puck top shelf to give Denmark the 2-1 lead.
Denmark chased an equalizer but couldn’t push the Danes to their heels and Bergmann’s empty-netter sealed the final score, 3-1, just 40 seconds before the final buzzer.
Norway’s captain Mathea Fischer was named her team’s Player of the Game.
The Danish win means that the chips are down on Sunday when the red-and-white Denmark take on the hosts, Sweden. Winner will win the group and secure a spot in the 2026 Olympic Games.
Netherlands – Sweden 0-8
Sweden refused to see the game against the Netherlands as a trap game. A least they refused to get trapped. The hosts dominated the game from the first minute to the last and won it 8-0.
Sara Hjalmarsson scored two goals and three points for Sweden and Eline Gabriele made 72 saves for the Netherlands. Team Sweden’s Sofie Lundin also collected three points. Ida Boman made nine saves en route to a shutout.
Scoring goals is never easy but it can be even more difficult in a game where one team is expected to only defend, and the other control the flow of the game. Sweden outshot the Netherlands 30-0 in the first period, and created scoring chances, but it took the hosts 13 minutes to solve Gabriele in the Dutch net.
Lisa Johansson sent a long cross-ice pass to Sara Hjalmarsson on the red line. She carried the puck into the zone, stepped inside and fired a wrister that beat Gabriele high on the blocker side at 13:28.
“We were told to shoot high on her,” Hjalmarsson told the Swedish TV after the first period. “I think our play got better with time.”
Hjalmarsson scored again three minutes later, but this time the puck stayed on the ice as she pushed in a rebound from the doorstep. Johansson was credited with an assist.
In the second period, it only took the Sweden nine minutes to score twice. Six and a half minutes in, the Netherland made a sloppy line change and Paula Bergstrom sent Thea Johansson got on a breakaway. Gabriele made the initial save, but Johansson slammed in the at 6:29.
Sixty-nine seconds later, Sofie Lundin redirected Maja Nylen Persson’s shot from the point to make it 4-0. Hjalmarsson picked up her third point of the game on powerplay, when she dropped the puck to Ida Karlsson who beat Gabriele with a wrister through the five-hole at12:39.
Paula Bergstrom scored her first goal in the Team Sweden uniform when her sneaky wrist shot beat Gabriele on the short side exactly three minutes later.
Josefin Bouveng made it 7-0 late in the third period when she beat Gabriele with a one-time from the doorstep, off a great feed from Mira Hallin with 4:34 remaining. Hilda Svensson scored Sweden’s eighth just seventeen seconds later when she went around the Dutch net and fired a wrister that beat Gabriele high on the blocker side to make it 8-0.
On Sunday, Sweden will play against Denmark, the other undefeated team in the tournament.