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2025 Worlds

How Sweden’s Scoring Depth Overwhelmed Germany

Sweden opened the 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship with a dominant 5–2 win over Germany.

How Sweden’s Scoring Depth Overwhelmed Germany
Sweden's Hanna Thuvik scores the opening goal of the 2025 IIHF Women's World Championship on Germany's goalie Sandra Abstreiter. (Photo Credit: IIHF/Matt Zambonin)

Sweden opened its 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship with exactly the kind of start it needed: fast, disciplined, and backed by contributions from all over the lineup. Five different players scored in a 5–2 victory over Germany in Česká Budějovice, as Sweden’s depth proved too much to handle.

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For a team that ended last year’s tournament on a disappointing loss to Germany, this win felt like a turning point.

"It feels amazing," said captain Anna Kjellbin in the IIHF recap. "We ended last year’s Worlds losing against Germany, so starting against them and playing like this makes me super proud of the whole team. It’s something to build from."

Sweden didn’t dominate from the very start, Germany brought physical play early, setting an intense tone with Nicola Hadraschek’s heavy hit on Hanna Thuvik just seconds in. But what separated Sweden was how they responded.

After Thuvik opened the scoring midway through the first period, Sweden methodically wore Germany down. Every time Germany tried to push back, like Luisa Welcke’s beautiful top-corner goal in the second, Sweden answered with pressure across all four lines.

Two quick goals at the start of the third period, from Kjellbin and Thea Johansson less than a minute apart, broke the game open. Both goals highlighted what Sweden did so well: getting bodies in front, shooting quickly, and forcing Germany into mistakes.

Mira Hallin and Hanna Olsson also recorded multi-point games, each picking up a goal and an assist. Hallin’s quick reactions on a second-period rebound and Olsson’s empty-netter in the final minute capped off a composed and confident team performance.

Germany, for their part, couldn’t match Sweden’s consistency. Despite strong performances from their top players, including a power-play goal from Emily Nix and heavy minutes from defenders Katarina Jobst-Smith and Carina Strobel, the Germans struggled to generate sustained offense. Goalie Sandra Abstreiter made 28 saves on 32 shots but was left exposed too often as Sweden’s attack came in waves.

In net for Sweden, Emma Söderberg wasn’t busy but stayed sharp, turning aside 17 of 19 shots.

For Germany, the message after the loss was simple: learn and move forward.

Sweden, meanwhile, will try to build on their success against Hungary, sticking to the same formula that worked so well on opening day: play fast, crash the net, and lean on depth.

If they can keep it that simple, Sweden could become a real force in Group B.

Other Games Today

USA 7, Finland 1
The Americans made a powerful statement in their opening game, cruising past Finland with a dominant 7–1 win.

Czechia 3, Switzerland 0
In front of a home crowd in Česká Budějovice, Czechia shut out Switzerland 3–0 to start their tournament on a high note.

Tomorrow’s Games (April 10)

🇯🇵 Japan vs Norway 🇳🇴
11am (Local) / 5am (EST)

🇸🇪 Sweden vs Hungary 🇭🇺
3pm (Local) / 9am (EST)

🇨🇦 Canada vs Finland 🇫🇮
7pm (Local) / 1pm (EST)

Game to Watch: Japan vs Norway

Japan brings speed, discipline, and a strong penalty kill into their opening game against Norway. Meanwhile, Norway, back at the top level for the first time since 1997, will rely heavily on star goaltender Ena Nystrøm to stay competitive. If Japan can control possession and stay out of the box, their pace and structure could be too much for Norway to handle early.

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