Canada scores 9 goals in rout over Japan in quarterfinal of women's world hockey championship

Canada's chemistry experiment continued into the medal games at the women's world hockey championship, although Sarah Fillier found her scoring touch in Canada's 9-1 quarterfinal win over Japan on Thursday.

Fillier, the tournament's MVP two years ago in Brampton, Ont., scored her first two goals of the championship.

Jennifer Gardiner, who was separated from linemates Marie-Philip Poulin and Laura Stacey for the first time, also scored twice for a tournament-leading five goals.

Defending champion Canada meets last year's bronze medallist Finland and the United States faces host Czechia in Saturday's semifinals. The medal games are Sunday.

Canada opened the tournament with a 5-0 blanking of Finland.

The Canadians played Thursday's fourth game at Budvar Arena with a puck drop at 8:30 p.m. local time after Czechia thumped Switzerland 7-0, the United States blanked Germany 3-0 and the Finns got by Sweden 3-2.

WATCH | Canada thrashes Japan in women's hockey worlds quarterfinal:

Poulin's assist on Julia Gosling's goal was the 86th point of the captain's career in world championships, which tied Hayley Wickenheiser's Canadian record.

Canada outscored its opposition 17-3 in the preliminary round with the trio of Poulin, Gardiner and Stacey contributing eight of those goals.

Head coach Troy Ryan stirred his forward lines Thursday in search of more balance ahead of the high-stakes final weekend.

Fillier, a centre most of her career, has played wing in her rookie PWHL season with the New York Sirens and also did so in Canada's Pool A games.

Spooner, who didn't dress the previous game and played on other lines to start the tournament, joined Nurse and Fillier while the latter shifted to the middle Thursday.

"A lot of my game is speed, finding the puck with speed, and as a centre, you can do that all through the ice, instead of kind of being stuck on one side of the ice," Fillier said. "I love playing centre, so it's nice to be back there for the game."

Added Ryan: "There's been a little frustration in her game at times, so sometimes you just try to put them back in their natural position. I challenged her a little bit that she needs to have more of an impact on both ends of the rink. She just played with a little bit more attitude and energy."