HERNING, Denmark — The United States routed Japan 10-0 in the opening game of the women's hockey world championship on Thursday and defending champion Canada started the tournament with a 4-1 victory over Finland.
The Americans had nine different scorers against Japan, with Alex Carpenter the only player to net twice. Taylor Heise went scoreless but equalled a tournament record with five assists for the U.S., which led 9-0 after two periods and outshot Japan 62-6.
Olympic and world champion Canada faced tougher resistance from Finland, the bronze medallist at the Beijing Games in February.
Marie-Philip Poulin had a goal and assist for Canada in the first period but Finland stayed within one goal until Meaghan Mikkelson made it 3-1 with seven minutes left of the second. Blayre Turnbull added the fourth into an empty net.
Finland missed a penalty at the end of the first period when Kiira Yrjanen's shot was saved by Ann-Renée Desbiens.
Finland captain Jenni Hiirikoski set a tournament record by playing in her 14th world championship.
In Group B, Sweden beat host Denmark 5-2 behind a hat trick from Hanna Olsson and Hungary upset Germany 4-2.
The United States next plays Finland on Saturday, when Canada faces Switzerland. The two North American rivals are both in Group A and play each other in the last preliminary round on Tuesday.
Canada beat the U.S. in the final of both last year's worlds and the Olympics.
1:57
1:51
1:11
COMMENTS
When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.