The Canadians were the juggernaut of the women's preliminary stage, and based on their performance in the quarterfinal, it looks like they're still the powerhouse of the women's tournament. Canada obliterated Sweden in an 11-0 drubbing Friday morning to advance to the semifinals, and they made it look easy.
It took just over three minutes for Brianne Jenner, who netted her second hat trick of the tournament in the tilt, to break the ice and get her squad on the board, and the Canadians just kept piling it on from there.
To exactly no one's surprise, Sarah Fillier continued her reign of terror with a pair of goals in the first period against the Swedes. Her first tally came after she narrowly managed to fit a quick snapshot past Swedish netminder Emma Soderberg. The play had to be reviewed, but it was clear the puck crossed the goal line to give Canada a two-goal advantage. Her second goal came just 36 seconds later from the exact same area of the ice. She was posted up right next to the crease when she quickly diverted a puck on net that banked in off Soderberg. Later on, she finally completed the first hat trick of her Olympic career after cleaning up her own rebound following a sustained Canadian surge in the offensive zone.
Reminder: Fillier is just 21 and, in her first Olympic appearance, has eight goals and 10 points in just five games. She's scoring goals at will, and she's showing no signs of slowing down.
As outstanding as Canada's first period was, they somehow managed to look even more impressive in the following stanza. The Canadians scored five additional goals in the second frame — including the second marker from Jenner — to take a 9-0 lead into the second intermission.
The Swedes were completely outmatched throughout the tilt, but they looked particularly fruitless in the middle third. They were outshot 20-3 and took a whopping four penalties — two of which ended up resulting in power-play goals for Canada.
At the onslaught's conclusion, 16 different Canadians registered at least one point against Sweden, and 10 had multi-point performances. While neither netted a goal of their own, Marie-Philip Poulin and Sarah Nurse led the way for Canada with four points apiece. Emerance Maschmeyer also stayed perfect throughout the contest, logging the 11-save shutout.
Canada will now head to the semis with a date against either Switzerland or the ROC. Their opponent will be finalized after Switzerland and the ROC play their game Friday night at 11:10 p.m. ET.
Click here to view all the stats from the Canada's win over Sweden, and click here to watch the full event replay from start to finish.
