Finland's New All-Time Leading Scorer Sends Them to Win Over Switzerland

Coming into Monday, there were three active players in the 2025 World Championships that cracked the top-10 in all-time scoring at the tournament.  

After today, there are now four: the newest being Finnish forward Michelle Karvinen. 

In their final game of the round robin, Finland secured a second-straight victory in Group A, taking down Switzerland 2-1. The game-winning goal was also the record breaking one for Karvinen, after she picked up the rebound of a Noora Tulus shot to put the puck home past Swiss netminder Saskia Maurer. 

Finland was already in the lead in the game when Karvinen scored, thanks to a short handed tally from Ronja Savolainen 10 minutes into the first period. After Jenniina Nylund chipped the puck out to neutral ice from deep in the Finnish zone, Savolainen broke away from the pack to drive straight to the other end on her own. The defender went five-hole on Maurer to put the Fins up 1-0. Karvinen’s goal came in the following period, with 12:15 remaining in the second. 

"At first, I was thinking ‘is that going to be the record?’," Karvinen told the IIHF following the game. "But, then again, it’s hockey. Those are the goals you need and we won the game because of that goal. I’ll take that!"

Alina Müller was the lone scorer for Switzerland, and is now the only player on the Swiss roster with even a point in the tournament this year. With a goal differential of -8, the tournament certainly hasn’t gone the Swiss’ way, with a game against the United States looming to close out the round robin. Lara Stalder, Mara Frey, and Monja Wagner did not dress for the Swiss on Monday.

Switzerland did outshoot Finland 28-22, led by the Alina’s; Müller and the 20-year-old Marti who each had six. Emilia Kyrkko made 27 saves in her appearance for Finland, while counterpart Maurer made 20. 

Now at 61 points in 71 games including 24 goals, Karvinen is 10th all time in scoring at the Women’s World Championships, tied alongside American Jenny Potter. The forward had four points a year ago in the tournament, including the opening goal in the Bronze Medal game against Czechia. She is just seven points away from tying the USA’s Brianna Decker for ninth place all-time. 

"She’s [Karvinen] been working hard for this,” Savolainen said. "She’s a great human being and as a hockey player she’s amazing. Every time, she does everything for the team to get a win, and she did that again today."

Outside of the top-10 in scoring, the Finnish captain is also now the highest scoring Finnish player at the Women’s World Championships ever. With the team looking to return to the podium for the second-straight year, Karvinen’s production could be a difference maker, especially as we head into quarterfinals.

Other Games Today: 

Germany 4 - Hungary 1 

Following a 5-2 win against Norway on the 12th, the Germans followed it up with another win in Group B, this time 4-1 over a Hungarian team looking to avoid relegation. A tally from Nina Jobst-Smith early in the third period sparked a high-powered period for the Germans, as they scored three unanswered to improve to 2-0-0-1 in the round robin. 

For the Hungarians, while the loss means they completed the tournament with zero wins in the prelims—and thus are set to return to the IA Division for next year—they were finally able to find the back of the net for the first time all tournament. Emma Kreisz tied things up at 1-1 with under five minutes left in the second period on a back-handed stuff-in that slipped past Sandra Abstreiter. 

The Germans have one more game remaining in the round robin against Japan on Tuesday, while the Hungarians tournament is now complete. 

Canada 7 - Czechia 1

Two goals apiece from Marie-Philip Poulin and Kristin O’Neill, the Canadians cruised to a 7-1 victory over the host team to improve to 3-0-0-1 in the round robin. Following the 2-1 loss to the U.S. on Sunday, Canada bounced back in a major way, outshooting Czechia 43-19 over the course of the contest. 

Adéla Šapovalivová scored the lone goal for Czechia, on a beautiful individual effort out in front. It was only 2-1 at the start of the third period, however three goals in 58 seconds helped Canada increase their lead, and they didn’t look back from there. 

The two teams have now completed their preliminary rounds, and will next be in action in the quarterfinals starting on Thursday. 

Tomorrow’s Games (Tuesday, April 15th)

🇳🇴 Norway vs. Sweden 🇸🇪 – 11 AM (local) | 5 AM (EST)

🇩🇪 Germany vs. Japan 🇯🇵 – 3 PM (local) | 9 AM (EST)

🇨🇭Switzerland vs. USA 🇺🇸 – 7 PM (local) | 1 PM (EST)

Game to Watch: Germany vs. Japan 

Both teams head into their final contest of the preliminary round at 2-0-0-1 through the first three games. With valuable points—and the top spots in Group B—up for grabs, both squads will be on the A-Game to close out the prelims. 

Last year Germany beat Japan 4-1 in their preliminary meeting, though the Japanese outshot the Germans 30-27. In 2025, offensively the Germans have a slight edge, though defensively Japan has been a bit stronger. It’ll be interesting to see how it shakes out to close out Group B’s preliminary round.