Important Wins For Germany And Denmark At Worlds As Quarterfinal Picture Comes Into Focus

It may have come on the second day of the 2026 IIHF women's World Championships, and it may have been the tournament opener for Germany and Japan, but their contests against Austria and Denmark respectively were crucial for quarterfinal positioning, and for nations to avoid facing relegation games.

The games, Japan taking on host Denmark, and Germany facing Austria, featured the four lowest ranked teams in the tournament, meaning wins could be the only that come for these nations, and should stand as the difference between playing a quarterfinal game against the United States or Canada, and facing possible relegation.

In the end, Denmark handed Japan a shocking upset, and Germany beat Austria.

Austrian netminder Selma Luggin was the star of the match between Germany and Austria turning aside point blank opportunity after point blank opportunity. Were it not for her own defender pushing a German forward into her in the second period knocking her to the ice, Luggin may have been unbeatable through two periods.

In the second, after Luggin was bumped, PWHL Detroit defender Nina Jobst-Smith jumped into the slot after Carina Strobel made a solid hold at the line and Lilli Welcke slide the puck to Jobst-Smith, where she slid the puck on the backhand under Luggin. 

As time wound down in the second, Luggin continued to stand on her head stopping a lately flurry from Germany to enter the third period down only 1-0 to the Germans despitre being outshot 33-7, most of which came from high danger locations. 

Denmark earned the most important win, perhaps in program history beating Japan 3-2 in a shootout to almost certainly secure a spot in the quarterfinals and avoid the risk of relegation, while sending Japan to the bottom of the group. Japan will now need to beat Canada, Finland, or Sweden to avoid a relegation game.

The game featured a back and forth of teenage stars on both sides.

On a team with PWHLer Akane Shiga, and Olympic and World experiences veterans, teenager Umeka Odaira stood out above the rest for Japan. The 17-year-old Odaira who players in the OWHL U-22 Elite league in Ontario with the North York Storm opened the scoring rushing the puck into the zone herself before beating PWHL Hamilton draft pick Emma-Sofie Nordstrom cleanly high.

Odaira did it again later in the first taking a pass just beyond her own blueline before skating the puck the length of the ice, protecting the puck as she cut to the middle of the ice, and sliding a backhand under Nordstrom. Odaira will remain in North America next season making the jump to the NCAA with the University of Maine. 

In the second period, 18-year-old Nikita Bergmann scored her second of the tournament, recording both of Denmark's goals thus far, cleaning up a scramble at the net. Late in the game it was 17-year-old Teresa Christensen who tied the game up for Denmark sending it to overtime despite the Danes being outshot 2-1 in the game.

After overtime solved nothing, the game went to a shootout where Denmark's Emma Sofie-Nordstrom shut the door on four shooters with only Odaira beating her, while Nicoline Jensen and Frederikke Foss scored for Denmark to lift the hosts to a 3-2 win.