The 2026 Winter Olympics are now in full swing, with Germany and Sweden facing off against one another to kick off the ice hockey portion of the tournament. The two teams were even with a 1-1 score at the end of the first period. However, Sweden scored three more goals to earn a 4-1 win over Germany.
Ljunblom Set the Tone
While Sweden scored four goals in this game, two of them were scored by Lina Ljungblom. She scored the first goal in response to Nina Jobst-Smith’s power play goal three minutes prior. Five minutes into the second period, Celina Haider took a seat for Team Germany. Ljungblom capitalized on the chance and scored her second goal of the game.
Related: Guide to the 2026 Winter Olympics Women’s Hockey Tournament
Ljungblom currently plays in the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) for the Montreal Victoire. In the net for Team Germany was her Victoire teammate, Sandra Abstreiter. Ljungblom didn’t let this stop her, and she let two goals fly past her Montreal counterpart.
Ljungblom was playing on the fourth line in this game, but with her strong offensive performance, she might have just elevated herself to another line. She proved she deserves the ice time and can make a strong impact on Sweden’s team, helping them earn their victory against Germany.
Svensson Traff Held Strong
Ebba Svenson Traff was the netminder for this game against Germany and held her own throughout the game. She only allowed one goal on Germany’s 16 shots, keeping Sweden in the game.
Svenson Traff was not the likely starter in this game, as Emmad Soderberg is another goaltender on Sweden’s team. Since Soderberg has experience participating on the world stage, it was likely that she would be Sweden’s netminder for this game. Sweden then turned around and surprised everyone by starting Svenson Traff.
Svenson Traff has only participated in the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) championship last year in 2025, so she doesn’t have much experience participating at the international level. Svenson Traff proved that she has what it takes to play at the Olympic level and helped Sweden to their first win of the 2026 Winter Olympics.
We’ll see what Sweden chooses to do as the competition progresses, but as of right now, Svenson Traff has been great for the team.
Sweden Commanded the Ice
Sweden picked up the win in this game, and it is no surprise as to why. They played a hard game and had a stronger performance compared to Germany. They outshot Germany 37 to 16. Sweden had more control of the puck and more scoring chances, and they were rewarded for it with more goals in the end.
Sweden also played a cleaner game compared to Germany. They took one penalty while they drew four against Germany. Germany capitalized on their one power play chance of the game, while Sweden capitalized on two of their four. Two of Sweden’s goals were on the power play, while two of them were scored at full strength. This shows that Sweden has strength on at least one of the two special teams; they’ll have to work on their penalty kill as the tournament progresses.
Sweden had the stronger performance between the two teams, and they were rewarded with the first win on the Olympic stage in Milan, Italy. They’ll look to make sure they continue this performance level as the tournament progresses.
Sweden’s Next Matchup
Sweden will have one day of rest before they take on Italy on Saturday, Feb. 7. The two teams will go head-to-head at 8:40 AM ET.
Italy just won its first-ever women’s win earlier today. As the Olympics are taking place in Milan, Italy will be on its A-game to try and pull out a second-straight win against Sweden.
