Abbey Murphy Powers USA to 4-0 Victory Over Czechia

Anyone who has watched Abbey Murphy play hockey knows she is a buzzsaw on the ice. From her speed to her scoring touch to her pesky nature, she’s the kind of player you love if she’s on your team but hate to play against. 

The U.S. saw some of the drawbacks of Murphy’s style on Monday when Finland scored on a penalty she took for an illegal hit. However, to the delight of Team USA, she brought her A-game to their 4-0 win over Czechia today at a rocking Budvar Arena in České Budějovice.

After a mostly dominant offensive period from the Americans, Murphy unleashed her lethal one-timer to open the scoring for the U.S. at 14:52 of the first. 

“When I get the puck, I'm gonna rifle it,” Murphy said in the IIHF recap. “And that's what I did. Our other power play to start off set a really good tone and handed it off to us. Great pass by KK [Caroline Harvey] and really fun to get it going.”

She followed that up by collecting her own rebound in the second period and knocking it home at 6:58. Kelly Pannek made a great pass to find Murphy streaking toward the goal, and despite not showing up on the scoresheet, Kendall Coyne Schofield deserves a lot of credit for drawing the defenders' attention toward her long enough for Murphy to work her magic.

Goals aside, Murphy showcased her pest side by goading Noemi Neubauerová into taking a cross-checking penalty in the middle frame. To make matters better, she stayed out of the box herself. This was Abbey Murphy at her best, and if this version shows up more consistently than the undisciplined one going forward, the Americans will be much better off. 

Murphy was not the only one who scored for the U.S. today. In the third, Hilary Knight and Alex Carpenter each added a power-play tally to cap off the scoring.

While these goals might look like just insurance on the scoresheet, they were important for the Americans. They were previously 0-4 on the power play in the tournament while managing few shots on the advantage. The final shots were 48-10 in favor of Team USA.

The goaltenders were also a story in this game, with Gwyneth Philips and Michaela Hesová both making their senior World Championship debuts. Phillips was not busy, seeing just ten shots, but she stayed dialed in and came up with some big saves to secure the shutout. It was a perfect first game for Phillips to get her feet wet and build some confidence at this level, although seeing a few more shots may not have hurt her. Don't be surprised if she’s back in goal come Tuesday against Switzerland to get her another rep at this level ahead of next year's Olympics.

Meanwhile, at the other end, Hesová stood on her head for most of the game. Many were surprised to see her in goal considering the strength of the American squad, but the Czechs have to play Finland tomorrow in a vital game for seeding. So, head coach Carla MacLeod made the right choice in letting starter Klára Peslarová rest in preparation for that one. Unfortunately, that meant Hesová was thrown to the wolves in her debut, but I don’t think anyone will complain about how she held up. The score easily could’ve been much more lopsided had it not been for her brilliance, but she didn’t get any offensive support to reward her. It didn't help that they were missing forwards Kateřina Mrázová and Michaela Pejzlová, who were both rested with tomorrow's game in mind per the IIHF recap. However, the rest of the Czechia lineup will need to find a way to generate more consistent offense if they want to medal this year.

All told, the Americans took this one decisively, but Czechia doesn't have much to hang their heads about, playing a tough game against a heavily-favored opponent. Team USA is back in action Sunday when they take on archrival Canada, while the Czechs will seek revenge on Finland tomorrow for defeating them in last year’s bronze medal game. Both puck drops are set for 7 p.m. local/1 p.m. ET at Budvar Arena in České Budějovice, Czechia.

The Rest of the Day 3 Games

Game 1—Japan at Hungary

Japan stayed undefeated at the Worlds this year with a 2-0 win over Hungary. Yumeka Wajima raced in on a breakaway and opened the scoring with just 23 seconds remaining in the first period.

After lots of back-and-forth play, Akane Shiga iced the game for Japan with an empty-net goal with eight seconds remaining. The final shots were 27-21 in favor of Hungary.

This win marked the first time since 2021 that Japan has won multiple games at the Worlds. Their schedule gets much tougher from here, with games against Sweden and Germany left, but it’s positive to see them winning the games they should after securing a 2026 Olympic bid.

Game 2—Switzerland at Canada

Canada kept the good times rolling against Switzerland in the day's second game. Goaltender Ann-Renée Desbiens got the start, marking her first game action since getting injured during a PWHL game on March 18.

At 12:26 of the first period, Micah Zandee-Hart opened the scoring by stuffing home a rebound resulting from a Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura Stacey give-and-go.

Canada’s offense exploded in the second period, with three goals in just 2:32. Natalie Spooner kicked things off at 7:14, followed by a beautiful Laura Stacey goal at 9:06. Poulin picked up her second and third assists of the game, giving her a tournament-leading five points in her first two games. 

Finally, Daryl Watts added her first World Championship goal to cap off the scoring 40 seconds later. 

The final shots were 40-17 in favor of Canada. It was Canada’s second straight shutout to start the tournament, and they’ve outscored their opponents 9-0 and outshot them 75-41. 

Tomorrow’s Games

Tomorrow’s a lighter game day, with just two games on the docket instead of three.

🇳🇴 Norway vs 🇩🇪 Germany: 3 p.m. local/9 a.m. ET

🇫🇮 Finland vs 🇨🇿 Czechia: 7 p.m. local/1 p.m. ET

Game to Watch: You do not want to miss tomorrow’s Finland-Czechia game. For starters, it's a rematch of last year's bronze medal game, which always gives teams some extra juice. Plus, Finland drew a bad hand to start the tournament and had to play the U.S. and Canada back-to-back. They were obliterated 7-1 by Team USA and didn’t fare much better against Canada, dropping that one 5-0. They’ll be looking to get back on track in what might be another bronze medal preview. Meanwhile, Czechia has been powered by electric crowds this tournament and tomorrow will be no different. Their discipline and offense were not where they wanted them to be today, but one imagines they’ll find a way to clean things up in a game they must win to keep themselves in a good position for the knockout rounds.