Canada vs Japan Today: What to Watch as the New-Look Canadians Chase a Second Straight Win

Photo: Canada in action during the Canada–US Rivalry Series in 2024 — Wikimedia Commons user Other_justin, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). File photo from February 2024, not taken at this tournament.

Friday was the statement. Sunday is the test of a different kind. Canada faces Japan at 1 p.m. ET today in Herning, Denmark, two days after a 5-1 win over Sweden opened this new era of the women's national team with a bang — and the opponent arriving at the rink is a wounded one, which makes it dangerous in its own way.

Japan lost its second game of the tournament on Saturday, 3-2 in a shootout to host nation Denmark, after outshooting the Danes 32-15 and controlling long stretches of the game. That is the sort of loss that stings twice: Japan did most of the playing and still walked away with a single point. A team that feels it let one slip away tends to come out hard in its next game, and Canada is the next game. The Canadians would do well to remember that the scoreboard in Herning does not care who looked better on Friday.

The history says this should be comfortable. Hockey Canada noted before last spring's meeting that Canada had won all eight previous games against Japan, scoring 96 goals and conceding none. That is not a rivalry; it is a wall. But this Canadian team is not the one that built that record. It is the youngest since 2013, it is playing without injured captain Marie-Philip Poulin, and Sarah Fillier — the star forward who might have carried the offence — is day-to-day with an upper-body injury and did not dress against Sweden. The players who beat Sweden were, in large part, players trying to prove they belong at this level at all.

Cheverie wants more, and she said so out loud

Head coach Kori Cheverie liked the result on Friday and said so — and then immediately made clear it was not enough. "Happy with that, but not satisfied," was her message to the team as the tournament moves on, and it is the right note for a coach whose roster is still coming together. The goals against Sweden came from the new guard: Jessie Eldridge scored twice, 18-year-old Rosalie Tremblay picked up her first senior point, Kendall Cooper scored her first goal for the senior team in her tournament debut, and Rebecca Leslie scored her first goal at a Women's Worlds. Nine of Canada's 12 points came from players who were not on the roster at the most recent Olympics.

The power play will be worth watching again today. Three of Canada's five goals against Sweden came with the extra skater, on a night the Swedes spent 41 minutes in the box. If Japan gets into penalty trouble the same way, the game could follow the same script. If Japan stays disciplined — and Japan, coached to be structured and patient, usually does — Canada will have to find goals at even strength, which is a sterner examination of a young forward group.

Japan's danger is real, and it has a name

Akane Shiga is the player Canada's defence has to know by number before the puck drops. The PWHL Detroit forward has been Japan's offensive engine for years, arriving in Denmark off a 38-point season in 36 games with Lulea in Sweden's top league. Behind her, Yumeka Wajima was Japan's top scorer at the Asia Championship last month with seven points in three games, as Japan won a third straight gold at that tournament. In goal, Miyuu Masuhara is the likely starter, and she will have watched Friday's tape knowing Canada fired 41 shots at Sweden.

Japan's problem is the same one it has always had against the big teams: it can skate with anyone for long stretches, then gives up a flood of chances when the pressure builds. Denmark outshot Japan's structure rather than the other way around on Saturday, and Canada's forecheck is a step up from Denmark's. The question is whether Japan's discipline holds for 60 minutes.

What today is actually for

Nobody in Herning expects Japan to beat Canada, and the group standings will almost certainly still show Canada on top tonight. The value of the game is in what Cheverie learns: can the second line create without Eldridge carrying it, does the power play work against a team that stays out of the box, and does the defence stay sharp when the game is 3-0 and the temptation is to coast? Denmark comes Monday, Finland closes the preliminary round on Wednesday, and the quarter-finals after that will not forgive a team that switches off.

The puck drops at 1 p.m. ET, live on TSN in Canada and NHL Network in the United States. Canada's new era passed its first test on Friday. Today is the quieter exam — the one about doing the professional thing against an opponent you are expected to beat, and doing it properly.

Editor's note: TSN's Laura Diakun and Megan Bozek previewed this game on Saturday, breaking down what they want to see from Canada against Japan — watch it on TSN's website. No official YouTube preview of today's game was available at the time of writing.

Sources

• The Hockey News — "'Happy With That, But Not Satisfied' Says Team Canada Head Coach As World Championships Continue" (November 7, 2026)
• TSN — "Bozek breaks down what she wants to see from Canada on Sunday vs. Japan" (November 7, 2026)
• Daily Faceoff — "2026 IIHF Women's World Championship: Team previews, predictions and more" (November 2026)
• The IX Sports — "2026 Worlds preview: Canada" (November 5, 2026)
• Victory Press — "IIHF Women's World Championship: Days 1 and 2" (November 7, 2026; Japan 2, Denmark 3, shootout)