IIHF women's world championship updates: USA to play Finland

🏒🏒🏒 The United States looks to extend its dominating run on Day 4 of the IIHF Women's World Championship, with the women coming off a 6-0 victory over Czechia on Friday night at the Adirondack Bank Center in Utica.

Tonight at 7, Team USA faces Finland, which has started the tournament 0-2, losing to Czechia and Canada and managing only one goal.

The Americans rolled Friday despite having to overcome a mountain of penalties, although the coach said the team used it to their advantage.

Observer-Dispatch and Times Telegram journalists Jon Rathbun and Daniel DeLoach are there for all the action and will be keeping you up to date throughout the tournament. Reporters Amy Neff Roth, Laura Sitterly and Ellen Mintzer will also be bringing you news and updates during the tournament.

Keep checking back here all day as we update on the games and more as Team USA pursues its 11th tournament championship.

US leads 4-3 entering third period

Team USA opened a two-goal lead in the second period but a last minute Finland goal has the US up 4-3 at the second intermission.

Taylor Heise scored eight seconds after her release from the penalty box to give the US a 3-2 lead, and Kendall Coyne Schofield added the fourth US goal.

Finland is still being outshot 28-8 but Sofianna Sunderlin cut the US margin in half when she scored with 40 seconds remaining in the period.

US, Finland tied after one

The United States outshot Finland 15-4 in the first period but Finland's power play was an equalizer and the teams went to the first intermission tied at 2.

Elisa Holopainen scored both Finland goals on the power play, tying the score with second one with 25 seconds left in the period. Following a review of that second goal, the United States was assessed a bench penalty for delay of game and Finland will start the second period with 1:35 remaining on that power play.

Finland scored first and took its first lead of the tournament with the first goal allowed by Team USA in its third game. The United States struck back a little more than one minute later, tying the score at 1 on an Abbey Murphy goal, and the US had taken its first lead with a Hilary Knight goal at 18:16.

Follow along on Jon Rathbun's X feed:

Are tickets available for the Team USA-Finland game?

According to the IIHF ticket website at 2024.womensworlds.hockey/tickets, the game is sold out. There are seats available for the 3 p.m. game between Japan and Germany, the only other game scheduled for today. Reporter Jon Rathbun and photographer Daniel DeLoach will provide you with coverage on uticaod.com.

Quiet first period for Germany, Japan

Team Germany took a penalty 28 seconds into Saturday's afternoon opener and killed it off in what would be a scoreless first period against Japan.

Each team with six shots at the first intermission, and only the one penalty was called.

Germany defeated Denmark 5-1 in its tournament opener Thursday. Japan had been beaten 3-2 in a shootout by China earlier that day.

Germany leads 2-0 at second intermission

Germany scored twice in the final five minutes of Period 2 and takes a 2-0 lead over Japan into the second intermission.

Jule Schiefer went five-hole on Japan goalie Riko Kawaguchi at 15:45 for the first goal. Kawaguchi had rejected an initial shot but did not react in time when the puck came back in quickly. Franziska Feldmeier and Carina Strobel assisted.

Japan took its second penalty of the period less than two minutes later and the second German goal followed less than two minutes after that. With a teammate screening Kawaguchi, Bernadette Karp sent a shot along the ice that caught the bottom of a stretching Kawaguchi's left skate and ricocheted in off the right post. Strobel and Lilli Welcke assisted.

Germany went almost eight minutes without a shot to start the period but now has a 17-13 edge overall.

Germany off to 2-0 start in Pool B with 4-1 win over Japan

Germany 4, Japan 1.

The game finished with a flurry of activity, including three goals in the final two minutes, all after Japan pulled its goalie.

Kawaguchi left the net one minute after Japan's final power play expired. Germany immediately took advantage with Luisa Welcke netting a goal assisted by her twin sister Lilli and Svenja Voigt seven seconds later.

Trailing 3-0 with 90 seconds remaining on the clock, Japan's Akane Shiga broke up the shutout with a goal 23 seconds after Welcke's. Ayaka Hitosato and Kohane Sato assisted.

Twenty-nine more seconds ticked off the clock before Germany's Nicola Eisenschmid sent the puck back into the vacant Japan goal and wrapped up the scoring.

Sandra Abstreiter made 29 saves for Germany which ended up being outshot 30-29. Kawaguchi stopped 25 of the 27 shots she faced.

Undefeated Sweden (2-0-0-0) is next for both teams as they continue Pool B play. Japan (0-1-0-1) has the quick turnaround for an 11 a.m. start Sunday, and Germany (2-0-0-0) takes the ice for its next game Monday at 11 a.m.

The United States and Finland wrap up Saturday's doubleheader with thir game starting at 7 p.m.

Follow along on Jon Rathbun's X feed:

More photos from Friday's games: Sweden vs. China and Canada vs. Switzerland

IIHF final score: Team USA 6, Czechia 0

It took a while Friday night for Team USA to solve Czechia goalie Klara Peslarova who played a brilliant first 36 minutes and had the score stuck at 1-0, but she could not hold off the mighty Americans all night.

Goals by Alex Carpenter and Laila Edwards within 59 seconds late in the second period broke the dam open, and Team USA poured in three more in the third period to finish off a 6-0 victory.

Carpenter had a hat trick, scoring once in all three periods, while Edwards had two goals and Taylor Heise scored the other. Caroline Harvey chipped in three assists and Kendall Coyne Schofield had two helpers.

Team USA goalie Nicole Hensley got tested multiple times in the final five minutes because her team was shorthanded following a major penalty to Kirsten Simms, but she completed a 19-save shutout..

Final score: Canada 3, Switzerland 0

Emma Maltais and Sarah Nurse scored goals in the first 7:46 of the opening period and that was more than enough to lift Canada to its second victory in the span of about 20 hours.

Canada opened its tournament schedule with a 4-1 victory over Finland Thursday night, then had the tight turnaround Friday afternoon, but it mattered little.

Canada dominated the game with lengthy offensive zone time and then a relentless forecheck that never allowed the Swiss to gain any footing.

Sarah Fillier closed the scoring with an empty netter with 19.3 seconds remaining.

IIHF Women's World Championship schedule on Saturday, April 6

At Adirondack Bank Center

3 p.m. — Japan vs. Germany

7 p.m. — Finland vs. USA

IIHF Women's World Championship schedule on Sunday, April 7

11 a.m. — Sweden vs. Japan

3 p.m. — Canada vs. Czechia

7 p.m. — China vs. Denmark

➤ Here is the full IIHF Women's World Champioship schedule.

More: Players to watch at the IIHF world championship tournament

How to get tickets

Tickets for most of the IIHF Women’s World Championship games are still available and can be purchased by visiting 2024.womensworlds.hockey/tickets or stopping by the Adirondack Bank Center box office.

The marquee pool-play game of the tournament, between USA and Canada at 7 p.m. April 8, is also sold out, as is the gold-medal game, scheduled for 5 p.m. Sunday, April 14.

How to watch the games at home

In the United States, all games will be broadcast on NHL Network, including its streaming service. For international viewers, fans can catch the games on the following networks/streams:

• TSN/RDS (Canada)

• SVT (Sweden)

• Discovery (Finland)

• Czech TV (Czechia)

• Magenta (Germany)

• TBS (Japan)

• Swiss TV (Switzerlan)

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: IIHF women's world championship scores, updates, schedule for April 6