Sweden nipped Denmark’s hopes of a Miracle in Herning from the get-go, scored early and often, and went home with a 10-0  win.

Mira Jungaker and Michelle Lowenhielm had four-point nights. Lina Ljungblom scored the game-winner early in the first period. Emma-Sofie Nordstrom made 46 saves for Denmark.

"We played a really great game. It was nice that we could play the way we want to play, even though we were facing Denmark, who we know is a little weaker team than us on paper. So it was a satisfying win, and there are plenty of positives we can take with us," Jungaker said. 

"I'm really happy. This is where I want to be," said Lowenhielm, who hasn't played in an IIHF Women's World Championship since 2022, when she was Team Sweden's captain. 

Sweden outshot Denmark 63-4 in the game, and this time around, that stat tells you everything. Not only did Denmark not get many shots on goal, but they hardly had all five players in Sweden’s zone at once.

"We kept going for the full 60 minutes. Often, when you're leading 4-0 or 5-0, it's easy to start taking your foot off the gas a little but I don't think we did that today. It shows the strength of this team," Jungaker added. 

The Swedes peppered Nordstrom with shots, but the 24-year-old Dane turned them all away, with great assistance from the skaters in front of her. Seven minutes into the period, Mira Jungaker’s stretch pass found Lina Ljungblom flying down the right wing. She entered the zone, dropped her left shoulder and forced her way to the net before slamming the puck through Nordstrom’s five-hole to give Sweden a 1-0 lead at 7:16.

With a little over two minutes remaining in the period, Ida Karlsson danced on the blue line, sidestepping a Danish defender before firing a wrister that hit Michelle Lowenhielm’s stick in the crease. Sweden had doubled its lead at 17:57. Josefine Holmgren also picked up an assist.

Holmgren and Karlsson were at it again 1:42 into the second period. Holmgren played the puck to Karlsson at the point, and her seeing-eye shot beat Nordstrom for the third time.

Sweden scored again 29 seconds later. Jungaker once again quarterbacked the play from Sweden’s zone when she found Lowenhielm flying down the right wing. She gained the blue line and flipped a backhand saucer to the front of the net and onto the stick of Ebba Hedqvist, who didn’t miss from up close.

Jungaker picked up her third assist on Sweden’s fifth goal at 4:22 when she set up Sara Hjalmarsson for a one-timer from the right on the power play. Hjalmarsson partly whiffed on the puck, and its odd trajectory caught Nordstrom off guard.

With 9:13 remaining in the period, Nicole Hall scored her first IIHF Women’s World Championship goal off a Jungaker rebound.

But the Swedes weren’t done yet. With less than three minutes remaining, Josefin Bouveng forechecked hard in the corner and found Lowenhielm at the hash marks. Lowenhielm stepped in and fired a wrist shot, and while Nordstrom made the initial save, Hedqvist was there to take care of the rebound at 17:18.

Another cycle yielded results in the third period. Ljungblom climbed up the wall, dropped the puck to Lova Blom, whose precision pass found Tilde Grillfors at the back door, and it was 8-0 at 3:55.

Thea Johansson scored her first of the tournament at 7:33 with a laser from the slot.

With 10:20 remaining, Denmark had their first shot on goal and both benches celebrated. For Sweden’s Emma Soderberg, it meant that a save percentage — 100 — could be calculated.

"It can't be easy for a goaltender to just stand there so it was nice that she got to make a few saves," Lowenhielm said. 

"I told [goaltender Emma] Soderberg that I could take a shot at our net so she'd at least get her shutout officially recorded," Jungaker joked. 

At 13:04, Hall scored her second and Sweden’s tenth off a beautiful backhand pass by Sofie Lundin to take the score to double digits.

"We have to put this one behind us and move forward. Japan is a different team, and we have to take them seriously," Lowenhielm said.