2023 wwc can sui

Women’s Worlds Preview: Canada vs. Switzerland

Saturday, April 15 | 4 p.m. ET | Brampton, Ontario | Semifinal

Jason LaRose
|
April 15, 2023
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GAME NOTES: CANADA VS. SWITZERLAND (APRIL 15)

TV: TSN | Stream: TSN Direct

It’s Semifinal Saturday at the 2023 IIHF Women’s World Championship, and Canada’s National Women’s Team faces Switzerland with a place in Sunday’s gold medal game on the line.

Last Game

Canada survived a major scare from Sweden in their Thursday quarterfinal, getting two goals from Sarah Nurse – including the overtime winner – as part of a 3-2 victory. Blayre Turnbull had the other goal for the Canadians, who outshot the Swedes 54-14 but were stymied time and time again by Emma Söderberg, and allowed a game-tying goal in the final 10 seconds for the second time in as many games.

The Swiss erased an early deficit in their quarterfinal against Japan, scoring the game’s final five goals to earn a 5-1 win and book their semifinal spot. Lara Stalder was in on all five goals, scoring once and adding four assists, Rahel Enzler had two goals and a helper, and Alina Müller added a goal and two assists.

Last Meeting

The Canadians and Swiss met 10 days ago in the prelim opener for both. The line of Nurse, Sarah Fillier and Natalie Spooner recorded a goal and an assist each, and Ann-Renée Desbiens made 12 saves to post the shutout in a 4-0 Canadian win.

What to Watch

Early in the tournament, head coach Troy Ryan talked about wanting better starts from Team Canada. After the last two games, the focus has turned to finishing strong. The Canadians have allowed game-tying goals in the final 10 seconds against the United States and Sweden before pulling out a pair of victories. The legend of Canada’s National Women’s Team in crunch time is well-established, but as the games get more important, they’d like to avoid leaving it (literally) to the last second.

The trio of Müller, Stalder and Enzler have almost single-handedly (triple-handedly?) pulled the Swiss into the semifinals. Through five games, the top line has combined for nine goals (the Swiss as a team have 12) and 25 points, and it had four goals and 11 points in the quarterfinal win over Japan. Needless to say, they’ll be important if Switzerland hope to spring an upset.

A Look Back

Canada has dominated the head-to-head history with the Swiss, winning all 18 games played, including all 11 at the Women’s Worlds, and holding a sizeable advantage in goal differential.

The best offensive performance belongs to Poulin, who recorded a four-goal game against the Swiss at the 2013 Women’s Worlds. There have been four five-point efforts, including two – by Natalie Spooner and Claire Thompson – in the preliminary-round meeting between the teams in Beijing.

All-time record: Canada leads 18-0
Canada goals: 147
Switzerland goals: 8

For more information:

Esther Madziya
Manager, Communications
Hockey Canada

(403) 284-6484 

emadziya@hockeycanada.ca 

Spencer Sharkey
Manager, Communications
Hockey Canada

(403) 777-4567

ssharkey@hockeycanada.ca

Jeremy Knight
Manager, Corporate Communications
Hockey Canada

(647) 251-9738

jknight@hockeycanada.ca

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