Day 5 of Olympic hockey was filled with exciting wins and COVID-19 drama.
ROC 1 – Canada 6
Group A
Canada got their win but it certainly didn’t come easy. The game was set to begin just after 12:00 pm local time (11:00 pm EST) but was delayed by an hour. It was reported that there were issues with the availability of ROC’s COVID-19 test results and the chief medical officer had not submitted them. Canada has been extremely cautious and followed strict regulations in the months leading up to the games. The Canadians stayed in their dressing room following the warmups until the situation could be handled. The teams came to an agreement that resulted in both teams wearing N-95 masks for the game.
Once the game began, Canada got out to an early 2-0 lead with goals from the Sarahs. Sarah Nurse and Sarah Fillier have been two of Canada’s best offensive players so far in the tournament.
The Canadians were able to add two more in the second period before ROC got on the board. Jamie Lee Rattray and Erin Ambrose both scored for Canada and Anna Shokhina scored ROC’s goal.
Rebecca Johnston and Marie-Philip Poulin added to Canada’s goal total in the third period and they left with a 6-1 victory.
Darya Gredzen got her first start of the tournament but was pulled in the second period and Mariya Sorokina took over. Canadian Emerance Maschmeyer got her first Olympic start, stopping 11 of 12 shots.
Emily Clark did not play for Canada in this one after an inconclusive COVID-19 test.
Denmark 3 – Czech Republic 2
Group B
Denmark secured their first Olympic hockey win in history. Their goals came from Josefine Jakobsen, Michelle Weis and Silke Glud. Cassandra Repstock-Romme made 30 saves in the win.
Aneta Tejralova and Katerina Mrazova scored the Czech Republic’s two goals.
China 1 – Sweden 2
Group B
Mulan Kang (Kasundra Betinol) opened the scoring for China and they held the lead until the second period when Sweden was awarded a penalty shot.
Felizia Wikner-Zienkiewicz scored a fantastic goal on the penalty shot attempt to tie things up. Just over a minute later, Josefin Bouveng scored to give Sweden the lead. They held on and took the game, 2-1.
Switzerland 3 – Finland 2
Group A
Switzerland took the lead in the first period with a goal from Lara Christen.
Finland’s Nelli Laitinen tied it up but under three minutes later, Dominique Ruegg gave Switzerland the lead again.
Come the third period, Lara Stalder extended the Swiss lead to two. Elisa Holopainen scored with just under 10 minutes to go but Finland was unable to make a full comeback.
Day 6 will have the four final preliminary games:
United States vs Canada – Group A
Japan vs Czech Republic – Group B
Sweden vs Denmark – Group B
Finland vs ROC – Group A
Unbenched Sports 