First game, first victory – Women's national team beats Czechia

Until the 57 minutes, however, the Czechs were leading this game thanks to a short-hander scored in the 35^th minute. Shortly after, Switzerland had 48 seconds with two extra skaters, but they failed to capitalize on this opportunity. The power play, normally a Swiss stronghold, was rather weak in this game. It took the Swiss team 13 minutes and 40 seconds of power play time to score a goal. Two and a half minutes before the final buzzer, however, Evelina Raselli finally found the back of the net to equalize the first game of this Women’s World Championship.

For Daniela Diaz, her team willed its way to victory. “We improved from period to period and fought our way back into the game after Czechia’s first goal.” Diaz called it a well-deserved win, which can also be attributed to a great performance by goaltender Florence Schelling. The 29-year-old net minder posted a 0.968 save percentage despite an unfortunate “faux pas” right before Czechia’s first goal. At midnight tomorrow (CET), Switzerland will play Sweden in the second preliminary game. This matchup will take place in the smaller arena in Plymouth. Consequently, there will be no live stream.