Sweden punched their ticket to the quarterfinals with a 4-0 shutout win against France. France is now all but eliminated from the Olympics.
Sweden punched their ticket to the quarterfinals with a 4-0 shutout against France in the preliminary round of the 2026 Olympic women's hockey tournament.
Thea Johansson opened the scoring with her tournament leading fourth goal less than four minutes into the game punching home a puck in the crease.
Over the next 20 minutes, the Swedish line of Hannah Thuvik, Sara Hjalmarsson, and Lisa Johansson took over as the game's best. All three players scored with Thuvik going bar down off the crossbar on the backhand, Hjalmarsson scoring on the power play, and Johansson tallying the only goal of the second period.
France's Alice Philbert had to be sharp being peppered by Sweden facing 49 shots. On the other side of the puck, France struggled to achieve any offensive pressure or high danger chances with Emma Soderberg facing only 14 shots.
Sweden improved to 3-0 in the tournament, all wins in regulation giving them nine points. They've secured one of the top two spots in Group B, but will look to round out their preliminary round with a final win over Japan. Beating Japan would ensure Sweden avoids Canada or USA in the quarterfinals giving them their best chance at playing for a medal.
France's loss all but eliminates them from quarterfinal contention as they now sit at 0-3 and only have Germany remaining.