Canada into women's world hockey semifinal with win over Sweden

HERNING, DENMARK — Sarah Potomak had a goal and an assist to lead Canada to a 3-0 win over Sweden in a women's world hockey championship quarterfinal Thursday.

Jocelyne Larocque and Erin Ambrose also scored for the defending champions, who face Switzerland in Saturday's semifinals.

The medal games are Sunday.

Canadian starter Ann-Renée Desbiens posted a nine-save shutout Thursday.

Emma Soderberg, who tends the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs' net, was a workhorse with 54 saves for Sweden.

Minus captain Lara Stalder and their top scorer Alina Mueller because of COVID-19, the Swiss edged Japan 2-1 in a shootout Thursday.

Czechia, coached by former Canadian defender Carla MacLeod, posted the upset of the tournament so far and reached the semifinals for the first time with a 2-1 overtime win over Finland.

The U.S. had an easier time in their 12-1 quarterfinal win over Hungary to face the Czechs on Saturday.

American forward Hilary Knight's goal and assist to get to 87 career world championship points surpassed Canada's Hayley Wickenheiser for the all-time record.

Canada and Sweden met in a world championship game for the first time since 2009, although the Canadians beat the Swedes 11-0 in an Olympic quarterfinal in February.

Soderberg lasted two periods of the quarterfinal in Beijing, but she gobbled up the puck Thursday.

Sweden, the 2006 Olympic silver medallist, was relegated in the 2019 world championship.

The national team then boycotted international competition in protest over compensation and other competitive issues. The dispute was resolved later that year.

The COVID-19 pandemic eliminated second-tier world championships for Sweden to gain promotion, but the world No. 8 replaced Russia in this year's