US routs Finland 7-1 in opener at women’s hockey worlds

CESKE BUDEJOVICE, Czech Republic — Hayley Scamurra and Kelly Pannek scored two goals each as the United States routed Finland 7-1 in their opening game at the women’s hockey world championship on Wednesday.

Captain Hilary Knight, making her 15th world championship appearance, and Taylor Heise both had a goal and an assist, and Lee Stecklein also scored for the U.S.

Goaltender Aerin Frankel saved 19 shots in a Group A match between last year’s runner-up U.S. and the bronze medalist.

Petra Nieminen scored the lone goal for Finland on a power play.

‘‘It was a big win,‘’ Knight said. ‘’Finland’s a great team, and we had all lines, all D-pairings going, which is really nice, and some great individual performances.‘’

Scamurra put the Americans 1-0 up 2:44 into the game on a rebound and doubled the advantage moments later. Pannek increased the lead to 3-0 from the slot in the first period as the Americans stormed the ice early and she finished off the rout with her second goal in the final period.

Defenseman Stecklein, who took the past year off to focus on her PWHL career, marked her return with a goal from a backhand shot in the second period.

In another Group A game, the Czech Republic blanked Switzerland 3-0.

Klára Hymlárová, Kristýna Kaltounková and Tereza Pištěková all scored for the hosts and goaltender Klára Peslarová made 26 saves for the shutout.

Earlier, Sweden defeated Germany 5-2 in their opening game in Group B.

Hanna Thuvik scored the first goal of the tournament 10:34 into the opening period for Sweden. Mira Hallin doubled the lead midway through the second.

Luisa Welcke reduced the German deficit to 2-1 in the second period before Anna Kjellbin and Thea Johansson both scored in the third for Sweden.

Emily Nix netted in the third for Germany on a power play, with Hanna Olsson finishing off the five-goal Swedish tally by scoring into an empty net.

The U.S. and defending champion Canada are the tournament favorites, continuing a long-standing cross-border rivalry. Canada has won 13 world titles followed by the U.S. with 10 spanning the previous 23 championships.

Finland is the only other team apart from Canada and the U.S. to reach the final, doing so in 2019.

Canada opens its title defense against Finland on Thursday.

The 12-day, 10-nation tournament in the southern Czech city of Ceske Budejovice represents the final major international tune-up before the 2026 Winter Games in Italy.

The teams are divided into two groups for a preliminary round. All five teams from Group A and the top three from Group B qualify for the playoffs.

The bottom two from Group B, which also features Japan, Norway and Hungary, are relegated.

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AP Women’s Hockey: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-hockey