Sweden and Russia able to beat underdogs

Sweden - Japan 1-0 (1-0, 0-0, 0-0)

With two bronze medals at World Championships and a silver and a bronze medal at the Winter Olympics each, the Swedish team has shown multiple times in the past that they belong to the elite in women's hockey. Japan on the other side had never been better than 7th at the World Championships and only once participated at the Winter Games - as host in 1998 when they finished as 6th and thus last in Nagano. The 2013 IIHF World Championship though gave a first proof that that both national teams are not seperated by a huge gap as Sweden only avoided relegation from the elite division in the relegation round against Czech Republic while Japan managed the return to first class hockey by winning the Division I tournament.

In an even match Sweden used their second power play of the match when Jenni Asserholt deflected a blue line shot by Emma Eliasson into the net at 12:38 following a tripping penalty against Japan's Toko. In the following minute already Shishiuchi had the big opportunity for the early equalizer but put a big rebound wide from short distance. The game continued with slightly more active Swedes but Japan stayed dangerous throughout the whole 60 minutes. Despite best chances neither Sweden was able to decide the match nor could the Japanese women force the tie. In the last minute they pulled out their goalie for an additional attacker but without a chance in the scoring deparment anymore.  

Russia - Germany 4-1 (0-0, 0-1, 4-0)

In the second match of group B - the first two advance to the quarterfinals against the 3rd and 4th placed teams from group A - it looked for a long time that underdogs Germany would be able to give tournament hosts Russia a huge setback but thanks to seven big third period minutes the Eastern Europeans were able to not only turn arund the match but also to gain the lead in their group.

The Russians started as expected with high pressure but either a good German goalie Viona Harrer or bad luck prevented them from using their chances in the first 20 minutes. The start of the middle period was very similar but Harrer's big stick save against Skiba after the Russian attacker missed the puck with the net empty in front of her seemed to give the Germans a bit more confidence. With one of their very few attacks in the second period Franziska Busch scored the very surprising guest lead when her rather weak wrist shot surprised Leksina and made it past her glove hand at 26:48. In the following minutes the Germans stayed deep in their own third but couldn't avoid another big opportunity in the 37th minute by Shukina who missed the net with a shot from the left post after standing there alone...

Russia came back from the dressing rooms for the third period with an even more aggressive attitude. After big chances for Sosina and Lededeva from short distance, it was Iva Gavrilova who surprised Harrer in the German net with a wrap around attempt for the more than deserved equalizer at 45:04. A tripping call against Tanja Eisenschmid then led to a power play for the Russians which was used by Olga Sosina for the 2-1 lead. Less than a minute later Yekaterina Smolentseva had a 1 on 1 situation and beat Harrer through the five hole. This was not yet the end though as again Olga Sosina made everything clear during a 4 on 4 when she scored the 4-1 for the hosts with a one-timer following a rebound at 52:15. The Germans tried to keep the result as low as possible but were too shocked to really become a danger for Russia anymore.

Tomorrow the tournament continues with the group A where USA and Canada already could make clear their semifinal qualification:

11.00 CET USA - Switzerland
16.00 CET Finland - Canada

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