O'Neill scores twice for Canada in win over Czech Republic at women's hockey worlds
Undefeated Sweden beats Japan, clinches playoff spot
Kristin O'Neill's career-high three-point game lifted Canada to a 5-0 win over the Czech Republic in the women's world hockey championship Sunday in Utica, N.Y.
The 26-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., scored twice and added an assist all in the first period for Canada, which faces defending champion United States on Monday night in a battle of 3-0 teams in Group A.
O'Neill's a five-foot-four defensive forward producing scoring chances for herself and her Canadian linemates in her fourth appearance at a world championship.
She mustered a game-high five shots on net Sunday. O'Neill led Canada in points with two goals and two assists after three games.
WATCH | O'Neill pots 2 goals for Canada:
"I would say my confidence has grown every chance I get to play in this jersey," O'Neill said. "My role has kind of evolved in the Hockey Canada program.
"I've been a more defensive centreman in the past, but I think just finding different ways to contribute has been a focus of mine, and even the focus of my line."
O'Neill assisted on Canada's first goal Sunday scored by her linemate Danielle Serdachny. Renata Fast and Laura Stacey each earned their first goals of the tournament.
Danielle Serdachny with her first of the tournament to put Canada on the board first! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CANCZE?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CANCZE</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/womensworlds?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#womensworlds</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/HockeyCanada?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@hockeycanada</a> <a href="https://t.co/n0mWQCZJhZ">pic.twitter.com/n0mWQCZJhZ</a>
—@IIHFHockeySarah Nurse contributed a pair of assists. Canadian goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens posted a 13-save shutout in her second win of the tournament.
Her counterpart Klara Peslarova stopped 37 of 42 shots for the Czech Republic (1-2), which was the bronze medallist the last two years.
Canada and the Czech Republic met for the first time at a world championship last year in Brampton, Ont., where the hosts downed the Czechs 5-1 in a preliminary-round game.
"It's not ideal," said Czech head coach Carla MacLeod. "This is our second time playing Canada so we naturally come in with a little bit of nerves.
"It was a pretty tough situation faced with three penalties right off the hop. I wasn't overly thrilled. I thought we competed hard to kill those off, but it hinders your rhythm."
Head coach Troy Ryan believes Canada has travelled the right trajectory from a sloppy performance in an opening win over Finland to a stronger effort against the Swiss, to the tighter crisper outing against the Czechs.
"Finland played really well against us," he said. "We just didn't play the way we want to play. It was actually a blessing in disguise because you can kind of have a little more accountability early in the event.
That comes just in time to face archrival United States, who beat Canada 6-3 in last year's final in Brampton.
In this winter's seven-game Rivalry Series between the two countries, Canada battled back from a three-game deficit to win four in a row and take the series.
"We're going to keep the momentum going from those games," said Canadian forward Jamie Lee Rattray.
"We play them throughout the year and want to win every time we play them. First place in the group is up for grabs. It's a big game for us."
The tournament's top five seeds in Group A and the top three in Group B advance to Thursday's quarterfinals. The semifinals are Saturday and the medal games Sunday.
Sweden stays perfect
Josefin Bouveng had two goals and an assist as Sweden remained perfect at the world women's hockey championship with a 6-2 win over Japan on Sunday.
The win assured Sweden of finishing in the top two in Group B and moving to the playoffs. Sweden led the group with nine points from three overtime wins. Germany, which was off Sunday, was second with six points from two wins.
Sweden and Germany were scheduled to play Monday.
Sara Hjalmarsson had a goal and an assist for Sweden, while Ebba Hedqvist, Hilda Svensson and Thea Johansson also scored. Emma Soderberg made 16 saves.
Second-period goals from Hara Toko and Makoto Ito briefly tied the game before Sweden reeled off four straight goals.
Riko Kawaguchi made 37 saves for winless Japan, which was eliminated from playoff contention with just one point coming from a shootout loss to China, which faced off against Denmark later Sunday.
The bottom two teams in Group B will be relegated to the Division I tournament next year. China had two points from two games heading into its game against Denmark, which had no points in two games.
Meanwhile, Canada looked to remain undefeated when it faced the Czech Republic in Group A action.
Denmark overcomes late rally by China
Frederikke Foss and Nicoline Jensen scored shootout goals and Emma-Sofie Nordstrom saved all three shots she faced to help Denmark pull out a win after a late rally by China.
Minghui Kong netted the equalizer for China (0-1-1-1) with 1:51 remaining in the third period, using assists from Xin Fang and Baiwei Yu to score for the second time in the tournament.
Denmark (0-1-0-2) took a 1-0 lead with 92 seconds remaining in the second period when Amanda Refsgaard used assists from Frida Kielstrup and Nicoline Jensen to score her first goal of the event.
Jiahui Zhan had 10 saves in goal for China and Nordstrom stopped nine shots for Denmark in a scoreless first period.
Zhan finished with 33 saves for China. Nordstrom stopped 23 shots for Denmark.
China closes out the prelims on Tuesday against Germany. Denmark squares off against Japan on Tuesday in its finale. The quarterfinals begin on Thursday.
With files from The Associated Press
