IIHF women's world championship updates: Canada powers past Finland for 100th win

The first day of the IIHF Women's World Championship ended on a high note for the Americans, who got off to a slow start before rolling to a 4-0 victory over Switzerland on Wednesday night at the Adirondack Bank Center.

An announced crowd of 3,128 turned out for the Team USA opening win, capping a day in which Sweden beat Denmark 3-1 and Czechia beating Finland 4-0.

Observer-Dispatch and Times Telegram journalists Jon Rathbun and Daniel DeLoach were 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.

IIHF final score: Canada 4, Finland 1

Canada's Ella Shelton scored with 2:20 remaining in the third period to put the game away for Canada. Shelton finished with a goal and two assists.

It's Canada's 100th victory in Women's World Championship history.

Follow along on Jon Rathbun's X feed:

FIRST PERIOD NOTES:

• Strong start for Finland but the momentum shifted as the period progressed. Finland had outshot Canada before the first penalty and still had a 4-3 edge after killing it off, Canada had an 11-5 advantage from there.

• Brianne Jenner, a former Cornell player, scored the opening goal for Canada. A two-time Olympic gold medalist, she tied a record with nine goals at the 2022 games and was named that tournament's most valuable player.

• Jamie Lee Rattray assisted on the goal; she is the career scoring leader at Clarkson and won the Patty Kazmaier award as the NCAA's top player when Clarkson won the 2014 national championship.

SECOND PERIOD NOTES:

• Danielle Serdachny with an assist on third Canada goal. Serdachny completed a five-year collegiate career at Colgate with a run to the Frozen Four last month. A two-year captain, Serdachny was one of three Patty Kazmier Award finalists this winter. She led the ECAC in scoring with 25 gaoals and 45 assists in 39 games, led the nation with an average of 1.79 points per game, and netted six game-winning goals. She played in last year's Women's World Championship and recorded one assist; she has one assist tonight.

Live updates from Germany-Denmark

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China holds off Japan in shootout

Competing in the top division for the first time since 2009, Team China held off Japan long enough to push its first game in Pool B first to overtime and then to a shootout where Jiahui Zhan, the Chinese goaltender who was turning 18, shut out the opposing shooters in what would be a 3-2 win for China.

Zhan had kept China in the game for 65 minutes by making 50 saves while her team was outshot 52-17. She stopped two more shots in the shootout as three of the five shooters for Japan misfired.

The teams went through seven shooters - four from Japan, three from China - without scoring before Yingying Guan broke the deadlock with a shot past Japan's Miyuu Masuhara.

That left one shooter in the initial round of five and Zhan stopped Rui Ukita's shot to her right side to seal the victory.

Quite a rebound for China

China did not win a game at the 2009 tournament in Finland and was relegated after that event. The last win for China came in the consolation round when it hosted the 2008 tournament in Harbin.

Japan competed in Pool A last year but went winless with a overtime loss to Czechia before it was shifted to Pool B for this year's tournament.

China plays again Friday morning against Sweden which also won its first game in pool play. Japan next plays Saturday against Germany.

Live updates from Japan-China

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Opening day brought chills inside and out

In addition to attending the games, a large crowd came to the tournament village outside the arena, even with the wet and cold weather awaiting them. Local school districts also took advantage of the spring break, bringing in the kids, who filled up parts of the arena.

“They were jumping through puddles on their way in,” said Westmoreland Upper Elementary fourth-grade teacher Rachelle Kent.

Reporter Laura Sitterly also caught up with a group of friends who play on the Utica University women's hockey team.

“It’s cool because the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) is starting to gear up to a bit more physical game so the athletes get to showcase their strength a bit more,” said Carly Stefanini, who is from Massachusetts. “People don’t realize how much skill it takes to play this sport. My older brother played hockey at the college level and whenever we’d compete he’d just hit me off the puck. We can’t do that – it’s all about sheer technique.”

➤ 🏒 Read Laura's story here.

Photos from Czechia's 4-0 victory over Finland

Photos from Sweden's victory over Denmark

IIHF Women's World Championship schedule on Thursday, April 4

All games at Adirondack Bank Center

• 11 a.m. — China vs. Japan

• 3 p.m. — Denmark vs. Germany

• 7 p.m. — Canada vs. Finland

IIHF Women's World Championship schedule on Friday, April 5

11 a.m. — Sweden vs. China

3 p.m. — Switzerland vs. Canada

7 p.m. — Czechia vs. USA

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

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. Today's game between China and Japan is sold out.

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 (Switzerland)

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: IIHF women's world championship scores, updates, schedule for April 4