Olympics 2026: Women's ice hockey team loses to Sweden 1-4

The first chance of the game belonged to the Swedes, who played a physical game from the start and created further opportunities after Nina Christof received the first penalty. However, the German team's first power play was more successful, culminating in a perfectly placed shot into the top corner by Nina Jobst-Smith with 1:0 (9th minute) took the lead. In the 12th minute, Lina Ljungblom scored the equalizer under penalty.

In the second period, both teams initially allowed few scoring opportunities. However, during a power play in the 28th minute, Ljungblom again found the net, tapping the puck in from close range to make it 2-1. Action in front of the net remained scarce. Instead, the teams battled fiercely for possession, with few penalties for a considerable time. Celina Haider narrowly missed scoring in the 33rd minute. the greatest opportunity for compensationSweden capitalized on another power play – Mira Jungaker increased the lead to 3-1 with 40 seconds remaining before halftime (40th minute).

The German team worked hard after the change of ends more offensive shares...also because the Swedes now focused more on defense. Right in the middle of this period of sustained pressure from the German women, Thea Johansson finished off a counter-attack with an unstoppable shot to make it 4-1 for Sweden (52nd minute). Following this decisive goal, there were hardly any noteworthy chances, so the match ended 4-1 in favor of the Scandinavians.

Official IIHF statistics: Game Stats #SWEGER

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National coach Jeff MacLeod: "We fought well for over 60 minutes. It was a fast-paced, physical game from both teams. Sweden played consistently and with composure for long stretches. The game was definitely an important learning experience for us regarding the rest of the tournament. We will quickly analyze and recover from the game so that we are well prepared for our next challenge against Japan."

Defender Nina Jobst-Smith"We are naturally disappointed with the defeat, but we should now look ahead. We played a fast-paced and physical game, and we should maintain that throughout the tournament. With the creativity we have on the ice, we can create more scoring opportunities in the offensive zone than we managed today. Therefore, for the upcoming games, we need to focus on getting even more pucks towards the opponent's goal and giving ourselves the chance to be successful in the end."

striker Emily Nix"We're disappointed to have lost the first game. There were simply too many penalties. Some of the calls were difficult. However, we also need to score more goals. You can't win a game with just one goal. We have a rest day tomorrow. We'll put this game behind us now. Sweden is certainly our toughest group opponent."

Next Preliminary round opponent The team for the women's ice hockey team is from JapanThe game takes place on Saturday, on February 7, 2026, at 12:10 pm in the Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena.