Three games in, and Hungary has yet to register a goal at the 2025 Women’s World Championships. Their lack of scoring certainly isn’t for a lack of trying; the team pumped 46 shots on net against Norway on Sunday morning, but were denied time and again by the heroics of goaltender Ena Nystrøm and, more than once, by their own ineptitude. They missed empty net opportunities, fanned on sure shots, and when they did get pucks on Nystrøm, she absorbed many of them into her belly. Her positioning was solid, and the Hungarians did not do enough to disrupt her view of the puck.
Give the Norwegians credit: they did a much better job of gumming up the slot and clearing rebounds than they had in their first two games. Defenders Emma Bergesen and Andrine Furulund not only scored huge goals, they also played over 25 minutes each. Furulund’s ability to make a strong first pass has become essential to a Norwegian team that has struggled to exit its own zone for much of the tournament. Bergesen, meanwhile, has been indefatigable. She plays in every situation, and has been relied upon to shut down every team’s top line. She had 36 shifts in this game, scored a goal and registered a +2.
The loss today guarantees that Hungary will be relegated to Division 1A for next year’s World Championships. The team’s inability to score goals or generate more scoring chances has been rather strange to see. The team has some talent, and certainly a reasonable amount of experience: Fanni Garát-Gasparics is Hungary’s all time leading scorer, and has been their most threatening player in Czechia, but even she can’t seem to get the monkey off Hungary’s back. Defender Taylor Baker, Garát-Gasparics’ teammate with the SDHL’s Brynäs, put five shots on net against Norway, but few were generally threatening. Fellow SDHLer Lotti Odnoga was perhaps Hungary’s most dynamic offensive zone player against Norway, but had a number of prime looks blocked by the tenacious Norwegian defense. Emma Kreisz, who registered a second-straight 20+ point season with the NCAA’s University of Minnesota this season, looks disjointed, never seeming to find her rhythm, and registered a -2 against Norway.
The Norwegians, for their part, have a chance, albeit slight, of staying in the top division. They will need a win against powerhouse Sweden, combined with a Hungarian win over Germany. The scenario is unlikely, but not impossible. Sometimes, all a team needs is a chance.