Canada not looking past Sweden at women’s hockey worlds

UTICA, New York — Canada’s women intend to be on their toes against a quarter-final opponent that took them to the brink of elimination in last year’s world hockey championship.

A Sarah Nurse overtime goal was required in Brampton, Ont., to beat Sweden 3-2 in that quarter-final.

“We all remember that game last year and we’ve got something to prove,” Canadian forward Blayre Turnbull said Wednesday.

The Canadians and Swedes clash again in today’s four-game slate at the Adirondack Bank Center.

Finland meets Switzerland at 7 a.m. PT, followed by Czechia versus Germany at 10:30, Canada and Sweden at 2 p.m. and the United States against Japan at 5:30 p.m.

The semifinals are Saturday and the medal games Sunday. China and Denmark will be relegated to the Division 1 world championship after finishing fourth and fifth respectively in Group B.

Canada led 2-0 on goals by Nurse and Turnbull in Brampton, but the Swedes scored a power-play goal late in the second period and struck even strength with just under 10 seconds remaining in regulation.

“They gave me some of the grey hairs I have right now,” Canadian head coach Troy Ryan said.

“There’s a lot of talent, a lot of skill, good goaltending. Last year, they probably gained a little bit of confidence, so we’re going to have to do what we can to take that away as quick as we can.”

The Canadians lost 1-0 in overtime to defending champion United States to cap the preliminary round Monday with a 3-0-1-0 record.

“There wasn’t any panic or anything like that,” Nurse said. “We lost one-nothing in overtime and they ended up getting the last goal. We know we can get the next one.”