2026 Winter Olympics: Natálie Mlýnková sets a record
It was another light day of action on Sunday, as the schedule thinned out before two straight days with four games per day before the start of the men’s tournament.
Sweden 4, France 0 (Group B)
Sweden both all-but-clinched top spot in Group B and officially eliminated France with a 4-0 win on Sunday. The scoreline might be a bit surprising in that it wasn’t overwhelming, but this result was as much as a mismatch as Canada’s 4-0 win over Switzerland.
The Swedes got three first period goals and just kind of coasted the rest of the way. Five of the six Swedish players with points had two points, three of them with a goal and an assist: Lisa Johansson, Sara Hjalmarsson, and Hanna Thuvik. Thea Johansson had the other goal.
Emma Söderberg made her first start of these Olympics, earning a 14-save shutout.
The only way that Sweden does not clinch top spot is with a regulation loss against Japan and every other result not going the right way.
Czechia 2, Finland 0 (Group A)
It is only Czechia’s women’s hockey team’s second appearance at the Olympics, but Montreal Victoire forward Natálie Mlýnková became the first Czech woman to score three goals in the Olympics, adding a second goal in this tournament to her goal from 2022. For my money, she has been one of the most impressive players of the entire tournament and will look to bring that confidence back to the PWHL. She leads the Czechs with three points in three games.
Her beautiful backhand goal put the Czechs up 2-0 in the first period, and put the game out of reach. Klara Peslarova made 25 saves for the shutout.
Finland had a 11-7 shot advantage in the first period but ended up allowing the only two goals of the frame. Finland now has two games remaining against Switzerland and Canada as they look to avoid the basement as they work their way back from the norovirus outbreak that postponed their opening game.
Anni Keisala started her first game of the tournament for Finland and made 22 saves.
Up Next
Four more games are on top on Monday as the tournament nears the end of the preliminary round. The day starts with Japan and Italy continuing their battle for a top-three spot in Group B. It is a pretty important game for both sides, but especially Japan as a loss to Italy will mean needing to get a result against Sweden to advance.
Then, Germany and France meet. France is already eliminated, and a German win will allow them to have a great opportunity for a quarterfinal appearance.
Group A action starts with Switzerland facing the United States and ends with Canada facing Czechia in the Czech’s final preliminary round game.
