CALGARY, ALTA (AP) – Valeria Pavlova and Viktoria Kulishova scored in 14 seconds in the middle of the second period as Russia started the Women’s World Hockey Championship with a 3-1 win over Switzerland on Saturday night.
Pavlova equalized on the power play in this period with 9:11, and Kulishova gave Russia an equal lead with 8:57.
Maria Batalova scored in the third period and Valeria Merkusheva made 19 saves in the Group A game.
Alina Müller opened the scoring for Switzerland in the first period, then left the game in the second with a foot injury.
Earlier, Nina Kristoff scored twice in the first half to help Germany beat newcomer Hungary 3-0 in Group B. Julia Zorn also scored and Jennifer Horse made 19 saves.
In the last match too, Denmark faced Japan in Group B.
The tournament was last played in Finland in 2019, with the United States winning their fifth title. The pandemic forced the cancellation of the event in Nova Scotia twice.
In Group A on Friday, the United States started with a 3-0 win over Switzerland and Canada beat Finland 5-3. In Group B, Sech Republic beat Denmark 6–1.
The top five teams from Group A and the top three teams from Group B will advance to the quarter-finals.
The US will face Finland on Sunday.
“General zombie fan. Pop culture pioneer. Brewer. Beer addict. Wine advocate. Passionate thinker.”
Total coffee specialist. Hardcore reader. Incurable music scholar. Web guru. Freelance troublemaker. Problem solver. Travel trailblazer.
