Jason La Rose
GAME NOTES: Canada vs. Germany (August 28)
TV: TSN | TSN Direct
With a perfect preliminary round in the rearview mirror, it’s on to the playoff round at the 2021 IIHF Women’s World Championship for Canada’s National Women’s Team. Up first? A quarterfinal date with Germany.
LAST GAME
Canada capped off the prelims with a convincing 5-1 win over the United States on Thursday night, ending its rivals’ 29-game winning streak at the tournament and going unbeaten in the round robin for the first time since 2013. Jamie Lee Rattray paced the offence with two goals, Brianne Jenner set up three and Melodie Daoust added a goal and an assist in the win. The Canadians led 5-0 midway through the second period as it earned its largest margin of victory against the U.S. since Oct. 25, 2017.
Germany stumbled in its prelim finale, dropping a narrow 2-1 decision to Japan on Thursday. Kerstin Spielberger scored in the first period and the Germans held the Japanese to just three shots into the early minutes of the second, but Japan got two in the final eight minutes of the middle frame to leave the Europeans third in Group B.
LAST MEETING
The teams met at this same stage at the last women’s worlds, in 2019. Canada got a pair of goals from Blayre Turnbull and pepped German goaltender Jennifer Harss with 66 shots in a 5-0 quarterfinal win. Emerance Maschmeyer needed to make just nine saves for the shutout.
WHAT TO WATCH
The Canadians are riding a wave of momentum after their big win over the Americans to close out the preliminary round. They got contributions from up and down the lineup in the prelims, with 13 different players supplying the 20 goals and 17 picking up at least a point. If there was one pain point, it was the power play – Canada joined Switzerland as the only teams not to record a goal with the man advantage in the opening round, going 0-for-14 in four games.
Germany saw its offence dry up after opening with wins over Hungary and Denmark, scoring a single goal across losses to the Czech Republic and Japan. On the bright side? Veteran goaltender Jennifer Harss owns the tournament’s best save percentage (.952) in her three starts, and the Germans have been perfect on the penalty kill, going 12-for-12 in the prelims.
A LOOK BACK
Quite simply, Canada has owned the head-to-head history, winning all seven meetings with Germany and averaging more than 10 goals a game while allowing a grand total of zero.
The list includes a game against West Germany at the 1990 women’s worlds, where Laura Schuler and Susana Yuen scored four goals apiece in a 17-0 win, and an 8-0 win at the 2007 tournament in Winnipeg that included the only women’s worlds hat trick in the Hall of Fame career of Hayley Wickenheiser.
All-time record: Canada leads 7-0 Canada goals: 71 Germany goals: 0