The United States continued to steamroll their way through the preliminary rounds of the Women's World Hockey Championship.
The Americans took control of the ice, sending 72 shots on Finland to grab a 6-1 win. They will continue on their strong run with a matchup against European star Alina Muller and Switzerland.
Without the suspended Petra Nieminen, the Finns had the hefty task to take on the United States. After losing back-to-back games against powerhouses Canada and the U.S., the Finns will have an easier rest of the way in the preliminary round with their next game against Japan.
Canada were comfortably up 3-0 until a third-period goal gave Switzerland a glimmer of hope. The Canadians held strong and added a late goal of their own to down their European counterparts 4-1.
The clash with the U.S. will have to wait another game as Canada will take on Japan in their next match.
In Group B, Sweden were up 3-0 but needed a shootout after Germany scored three unanswered goals in the third period to take a 4-3 win. The Three Crowns slipped to second place in their group with one regulation win and one shootout win in their first two games. They will take on Hungary next.
Hosts Denmark opened the score against Czechia to make their home crowd proud. The Czechs then hit second gear and ran away with a 5-1 win, giving them control of first place in their group.
3rd Star: Anni Keisala, Finland
The Lions of Finland may have lost but without their goaltender Anni Keisala, it would have been a whole lot worse.
After making 39 saves during Finland’s 4-1 loss to Canada in their opening game, the 25-year-old continued her solid goaltending. By the end of the first period against the U.S., Keisala had already tallied 27 saves and only trailed 1-0 at the intermission.
Keisala finished the game with a whopping 66 saves. With Canada and the U.S. out of the way in the preliminary stage, the netminder will expect to see less pucks going her way.
Over the first two games, Keisala faced 113 shots. It impressed everyone in Herning, Denmark, including Finland's tournament broadcaster which called the game: "The absolutely freezing Anni Keisala show."
Nevertheless, she made HV71 executives lick their chops at securing her services. Keisala will take her talents outside of Finland for the very first time, setting up shop in Sweden’s SDHL for the upcoming season.
2nd Star: Sarah Fillier, Canada
Fillier is among the youngest and shortest players on Team Canada but she’s shown herself to be one of the top players in the country with two goals against Switzerland.
The 22-year-old creates plays but also knows when not to attempt moves that could either be meant for a flashy highlight pack or a blooper reel. For her first goal, Fillier rounded the net and admitted that she thought about a Michigan goal but instead distributed the puck.
The positive karma came back to the Princeton University captain as her shot from the high slot broke the ice for Canada.
For her second goal of the game, Fillier forced a Swiss turnover and took it upon herself to double Canada’s lead. In a one-on-one situation with blueliner Nicole Vallario, she chose to surprise netminder Andrea Braendli with a short side wrist shot.
1st Star: Amanda Kessel, USA
The United States applied instant pressure onto the Finns in order to impose themselves and get an early advantage. Amanda Kessel was a clear example, grabbing two goals and one assists for the Americans.
She forced a turnover behind the Finnish net which led to the first American goal of the game by Jincy Dunne.
In the second period, Kessel was forgotten along the left goal post and notched her second goal of the worlds to get the U.S. up 3-0 on the power play.
Kessel then collected her second goal of the game, on the power play. Taylor Heiss combined with Kessel with a no-look back pass to fool Keisala and put the U.S. up 4-1.
