Sweden's path to winning the group is open after a dream start and victory in the key match against Germany.
The women's team has an Olympic medal in sight - for the first time since the silver medal in 2006 in Turin - and if that goal is to be achieved, winning the group is almost a must to avoid a meeting with the USA or Canada, the giants of women's hockey, in the quarterfinals.
Lina Ljungblom showed the Swedes the way with two similar goals as she scored twice from rebounds in front of German goalkeeper Sandra Abstreiter, who has haunted Damkronorna a couple of times in recent years.
"It's my first Olympic goal, first goal of the season, and with everything that's happened in the past it feels great," says Ljungblom, who played in the 2022 Olympics but went goalless then.
The nickname "an honor"
The goal-scoring and energetic 24-year-old forward was struck by glandular fever in November and sidelined for two months. The Olympics were a long way off.
For her, the debut was proof that she's back with a message.
"Absolutely. You've had that role before with everything that's happened this season, and when you score two goals today you're humbly grateful," says Ljungblom, called the "fuck you minister" on the team.
"You have to live up to that. It means you have a 'fuck you' attitude towards your opponents, and I think more people on the team can have that and we can build it up even more. It's an honor in its own way," she says about the nickname.
"Very cool"
Goalkeeper Ebba Svensson Träff, Linköping, was another of the match winners, saving 15 of 16 shots in her Olympic debut.
That the 21-year-old was chosen as the goalkeeper was surprising, as Emma Söderberg, who was now on the bench, had been the first-choice goalkeeper for Damkronorna since the 2022 Olympics.
Svensson Träff about the Olympic debut:
"It was so cool, something you'd dream about."
Still, she got off to a tough start as Germany's first shot on goal also went in.
"It's nothing you can influence, you just focus on the next puck. I'm happy, it was really fun and I got good help from my teammates," she says.
Sweden's group stage matches in the women's Olympic ice hockey tournament:
5/2: Sweden–Germany 4–1.
7/2: Sweden–Italy (2:40 p.m.).
8/2: France–Sweden (4:40 p.m.).
10/2: Japan–Sweden (12:10).
