Germany picked up their first win of the Olympic women's hockey tournament pushing Japan closer to elimination ahead of the quarterfinals.
Germany got off to a 5-0 lead and never looked back in their 5-2 win over Japan at the 2026 Olympic women's hockey tournament.
Captain Daria Gleißner opened the scoring for Germany and added an assist, while Boston Fleet forward Laura Kluge had a goal and three assists in the win.
After an opening minute rush by Kluge and Luisa Welcke, Gleißner followed the play in and banged home a rebound just 44 seconds in to give Germany a lead.
Eight minutes later, Emily Nix scored on a backhander to double Germany's lead before Nicola Hadraschek pounced on a mistake by Japan to make it 3-0 before the period ended.
Japan made a goaltending change heading to the second frame, but it didn't change the momentum Germany had built. Nicola Hadraschek scored her second of the game, watching a floating deflection trickle over the line in a goal Japan would have liked back.
Crossing the midway point of the game Laura Kluge went bar down to make it 5-0.
Japan got two back in the second period with Mei Miura and Yumeka Wajima scoring only 22 seconds apart, but it was all Japan could muster.
Sandra Abstreiter made 20 saves in the win for Germany.
Germany improved to 1-1 in the tournament, the same record as Japan, but Japan now sits below Germany leading only last place France, who they collected their only win against.