Czechia coasts to victory over Switzerland

Natalie Mlynkova’s hat trick was the difference as Czechia ended the preliminary round with a win at the 2024 IIHF Women’s World Championship in Utica, New York. The team defeated Switzerland 6-1 on Tuesday afternoon.

For Switzerland, the team was hoping to secure their first win of the tournament.  Saskia Maurer got her first start in net at Women’s Worlds.

Czechia took an early lead, only 37 seconds into the game.  Tereza Vanisova was on the far side of Switzerland’s zone.  She made a cross pass to captaiin Aneta Tejralova.  Alina Mulller could not catch up to the defender, who shot the puck past Switzerland goaltender Saskia Maurer’s right leg and into the net for the goal.

On a 5-on-3 powerplay, Switzerland seized the opportunity to get the equalizer with 3:29 remaining in the first period.  The team was creating a lot of action and traffic deep in Czechia’s zone.  Muller and captain Lara Stalder were passing the puck back and forth.  Muller fed the puck to Stalder and the forward blitzed it pass the glove of Czechia goaltender Klara Peslarova to go top shelp for the score.

Switzerland had a couple of good chances early in the period.  Stalder launched the puck a couple of times, but Peslarova was there for the saves.

With over 6:00 gone by in the second period, Czechia had a couple of great opportunities to regain the lead.  On a 2-on-1 play, Klara Hymlarova passed the puck over to Natalie Mlynkova who hustled to the net and shot the puck.  Maurer made huge save to deny Mlynkova for the goal. 

Seconds later, defender Andrea Trnkova tried a power drive to the net, but again Maurer was focused and stopped the play.

Czechia’s offense got rolling with two goals 1:06 apart.  After Switzerland forward Laura Zimmermann’s shot was blocked, Chezchia grabbed the puck and skated down the rink.  As Denisa Krizova went towards the back of the net, she made a nifty move to get the puck to Tereza Vanisova who got it past Maurer with 5:57 remaining in the period.

However, Czechia was not done.  Adela Sapovalivova got the puck off the boards and put the shot on the net.  While Maurer made the save, Mlynkova had to quickly react and backhanded the puck into the net for the score.

In the third period, Switzerland went on the powerplay as Karolina Kosinova was handed a penalty for roughing. The team was not able to seize the opportunity to tie the game. 

Czechia added some assurance as they went on a powerplay at 7:55 of the third perioud as Naemi Herzig was…