Detroit Clutch forward Hilary Knight scored three goals as the United States beat Czechia 8-1 on Wednesday, Nov. 11, in Esbjerg, Denmark, closing the group stage of the IIHF Women’s World Championship with a perfect 4-0 record. The U.S. captain now leads the tournament with six goals.

One of her goals came short-handed in the third period. The hat trick came in Knight’s 91st game at the Women’s Worlds, and she now has 73 career goals at the event.

Abbey Murphy scored twice for the Americans, opening the scoring 53 seconds in, and Alex Carpenter, Laila Edwards, and Grace Zumwinkle also scored. Taylor Fox had three assists, and Aerin Frankel needed only a handful of saves against a Czech team that managed one goal, from Natalie Mlynkova.

Elsewhere on the final group day

Canada, with Detroit’s Daryl Watts on its roster, beat Finland 2-0 to win Group B undefeated. Caitlin Kraemer and Sarah Fillier scored, and Ann-Renée Desbiens made 25 saves for the shutout. Finland’s Jenni Hiirikoski became the first woman to play 100 games at the Women’s Worlds.

In Group A, Germany beat Switzerland 3-1, a meeting of the teams carrying Detroit’s Nina Jobst-Smith and Andrea Brändli. Germany finished second in the group behind the Americans, and Switzerland third.

What’s next

All four of those teams play in Friday’s quarterfinals, Nov. 13: the United States faces host Denmark, Canada meets Czechia, Germany plays Finland, and Switzerland takes on Sweden. Back home, the Clutch open their inaugural season Dec. 6 at the Vegas Vanguards and play their first game at Little Caesars Arena on Dec. 12 against the New York Sirens.

Earlier on Mitten Hockey: Detroit Clutch’s Jobst-Smith and Brändli headed to Women’s Worlds quarterfinals as Germany and Switzerland win and PWHL Detroit is the Detroit Clutch: team unveils name and wheel-and-clutch logo.

Sources

• Associated Press via WSLS: Knight has hat trick in 8-1 win over Czechs and Canada shuts out Finland at women’s hockey worlds (Nov. 11, 2026)
• Daily Faceoff (Tyler Kuehl): 2026 IIHF Women’s World Championship, top standouts from Day 6 (Nov. 11, 2026)
• PWHL: PWHL unveils Detroit Clutch in expansion team identity launch (Nov. 10, 2026)