Three stars from Day 1 of WWHC: Taylor Heise shows brilliance in tournament debut

It was an explosive start to day one of the IIHF Women's World Hockey Championships in Denmark as eight teams competed to open the preliminary round.

Team USA had a dominant performance against Japan where the depth of the American team was showcased, as the 10-0 victory featured nine different goal scorers. After Kelly Pannek scored goal number one for Team USA mid-way into the first, it was off to the races as the team netted eight more over the next 30 minutes and reached double-digits in the third. Japan will play their second game tomorrow against Czechia.

The tournament's first upset victory came as Hungary rallied to defeat Germany 4-2 in the Group B opener. After going down two goals halfway through the first period, the Hungarians rallied to score four unanswered goals, including two by Franciska Kiss-Simon. Kinga Jokai-Szilagyi would score the eventual game-winner in the second period and an empty net goal late in the third by Mira Seregely secured the victory for Hungary.

It was a hard fought, physical game between Finland and Canada, but the red-and-white came out victorious with a decisive 4-1 victory. Sarah Nurse opened the scoring at the tail-end of a five-minute power-play and, after Finland tied the score, captain Marie-Philip Poulin would score the eventual game-winner. Meaghan Mikkelson also scored her first goal in five years for Team Canada and Blayre Turnbull would add insurance with an empty-net goal. Finnish captain Jenni Hiirikoski set a record, playing in her 14th Women's World Championship tournament.

The host-country Denmark fell 5-2 against Sweden in a battle of the Scandinavian neighbours. After opening the scoring early in the first period, Denmark allowed a tying goal by Hanna Olsson almost immediately — one of three goals Olsson would score this contest. Despite the late push by Denmark to bring the score within two, Olsson would score an empty-net goal to ensure the win for Sweden.

Here are the top performers from Day 1 of the Women's World Hockey Championships.

Her nickname is "Captain Clutch" for a reason — Marie-Philip Poulin always seems to show up in big ways at big moments for Team Canada, and today was no different.

Both no strangers to scoring big goals on the international stage, Poulin and Sarah Nurse combined to score the first for Team Canada during a five-minute power play. Following a feed from Jocelyne Larocque, Poulin dished the puck for a back-handed tip-in by Nurse.

The three would come together once more in the first.

After Finland tied the game up off a goal from Julia Liikala, Poulin carried the puck into the offensive zone down the right wing, delaying her shot as she waited for an opening and buried it blocker-side on Finnish goaltender Anni Keisala. This goal would eventually become the game-winner as Poulin continues to live up to her nickname.

Poulin's two-way game was on display this evening as well, leading an aggressive penalty kill for Team Canada that killed off six of seven penalties.

Canada plays Switzerland on Saturday for their second game of the tournament.

Honourable mention: Meaghan Mikkelson returned to Team Canada on Thursday with a bang. After missing time with a serious knee injury, the 37-year-old snapped home her first goal since 2016 to bring Canada up 3-1.

Franciska Kiss-Simon willed her team to an unlikely victory against Germany, netting herself two goals to tie up the game.

Just 25 seconds after Germany scored their second goal, Kiss-Simon ripped it from the top of the circle off a feed from Mira Seregely to net Hungary's first goal of the tournament and Kiss-Simon's first goal at the World Championships in seven years.

She doubled up in the second on the power play, scoring once more from a similar shot atop the circle.

In this game alone, Kiss-Simon has matched her career-best two goals in a tournament as Hungary takes it's first-ever win against Germany.

They look ahead to maintain this momentum against Czechia on Friday.

Honourable mention: Sweden's Hanna Olsson led her team to victory against Denmark with an impressive three-goal performance. Tying up the game just 30 seconds after Denmark's Emma Russel opened the scoring, Olsson went unassisted for her second goal. She completed the hat-trick late in the third period to secure the 5-2 victory for Sweden.

As 22-year-old Taylor Heise put on an absolute show for the United States against Japan, it's easy to forget that this is her senior national team debut. Notching five assists — four of which were primary — she was awarded player of the game for Team USA.

Heise's first point came in the final minute of the first period, when she tipped a pass to a wide-open Caroline Harvey, who buried the puck on a backhand.

Heise tallied a secondary assist just 40 seconds later, giving her two points in less than a minute, when Hayley Scamurra made it 4-0.

Heise added three more points in the second period, including an impressive feed to Alex Carpenter.

Watched by Japanese defender Aoi Shiga, Haise cuts back and walks the blue line, letting go of a back-hand pass that's hammered home by Carpenter.

Heise has previously won three international gold medals playing for Team USA at the IIHF Under-18 Women's World Hockey Championships in 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Honourable mention: The United States displayed their depth on day one of this tournament, but Alex Carpenter was the lone player to score twice in the 10-0 victory. With goals No. 8 and 10 for the Americans, Carpenter also added an assist and was the fifth player on Team USA to record a multi-point game against Japan.