It was exactly the win many had expected when Sweden's Tre Kronor women faced France.
Sweden set the tone right away and effectively decided the match in the first period. Three goals in the space of 20 minutes laid the foundation for a comfortable 4–0 victory.
The league leader, Thea Johansson, continues to lead the way for Sweden and also scored a goal against France - her fourth goal of the tournament.
“It is difficult”
The shooting statistics were written as a whole 49–14 in Sweden's favor. However, being so superior in terms of play is not always the easiest thing.
It's a bit challenging. We have the puck a lot and try to keep the pace up and be accurate. We start early but try to keep working. But it's difficult to keep the pace up, says defenseman Maja Nylén-Persson in SVT's broadcast and continues:
We try to keep up good habits. We are in a process and want to continue building match by match.
The conditions in the tournament are special. While all teams in Group A are already qualified for the quarter-finals, teams in Sweden's group must finish in the top three to qualify. That place is now secured for Tre Kronor.
Reassuring injury report
In addition, Sweden is storming towards the group victory. Japan, who only defeated France by a single goal, must win its remaining matches against Italy and Sweden to advance in the standings.
A group victory could prove valuable. There is strong evidence that a first-place finish means avoiding the big nations Canada and the USA in the quarterfinals.
The only downside was that defender Jenna Raunio was forced to leave after suffering an early concussion. She did not return to play, but is expected to be fine, according to team physician Wille Ahnberg.
It's about her history (a concussion at the 2022 Junior World Championships) and therefore they want to be extra careful.
Sweden will face Japan in the final group stage on Tuesday.
Sweden's group stage matches in the women's Olympic ice hockey tournament:
5/2: Sweden–Germany 4–1.
7/2: Sweden–Italy 6–1.
8/2: France–Sweden 0–4.
10/2: Japan–Sweden (12.10).
