BEIJING, Feb 7 (Reuters) – A gritty Swedish team claimed their first win in the women’s Olympic ice hockey preliminary stage on Monday, edging hosts China 2-1 to keep alive their chances of advancing in the tournament.
China’s Kang Mulan got the scoring started with a stellar individual effort early in the first period, but Sweden’s Felizia Wikner-Zienkiewicz responded in the second, beating Chinese goalie Zhou Jiaying on her gloveside on a penalty shot.
Forward Josefin Bouveng found the back of the net a little over a minute later to provide what proved to be the slim margin of victory.
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Playing in front of a wildly enthusiastic – albeit limited – home crowd at Wukesong Sports Centre, China pulled their goalie with less than three minutes left in the game but were unable to break through Sweden’s stout defence with the extra skater.
“Our players really showed their grit especially at the end of this game,” Swedish head coach…
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