Matchday Recap: S01D11
Matchday 11 gave us everything this league has to offer—a thirteen-goal barnburner in Tokyo, a pair of shootout thrillers, a stunning home upset at The Oldest Rink, and enough fistwork to keep the replay editors busy through the weekend. Tenez vous bien, mes amis, because we have ground to cover.
MTL 1 — MUM 2
An upset at The Oldest Rink, and one that stings for Montréal faithful. The Maples entered as comfortable favorites at 1.60, yet the Mumbai Monsoons walked out of the building with two points. C'est la vie—and in this case, c'est embarrassant.
The tone was set almost immediately when Rahul Nair drew a penalty at 1:13, served his time, then emerged and promptly dropped the gloves with Jean-François Tremblay at 4:41 following a hard open-ice hit. That aggression would define Nair's night: he finished with a goal, three recorded hits, and three fights—a performance that was equal parts contribution and chaos. He and Tremblay went at it a second time in the second period at 10:39, and Nair wasn't finished, throwing down with Dmitri Volkov just two minutes later at 11:59. The man was everywhere.
Mumbai struck for two goals in a 50-second window late in the first—Nair batting one out of the air at 11:03, then Rohan Deshmukh finishing 50 seconds later off a Priya Sharma feed. Montréal's Philippe Dubois, set up beautifully by Amélie Bouchard, pulled one back in the second at 7:00 to make it a game. But the Maples couldn't find the equalizer despite a penalty-filled third period. Twenty-seven shots on the night ended in 17 hits and 10 penalties between these two clubs, and Mumbai's goaltender was the difference. Quel résultat.
JBG 1 — SAO 2
The Johannesburg Jaguars came in as underdogs at 2.54 against the São Paulo Serpents, and they very nearly pulled it off before the Serpents won it in the shootout. Five periods of hockay at Die Goue Myn, and it delivered.
The Serpents struck first in the opening frame when Isabela Costa lit the lamp at 13:13 off a Camila Ferreira assist—but not before Lindiwe Sithole and Amanda Barbosa had already exchanged pleasantries at 8:25, setting the physical tempo early. Johannesburg answered in the second when Nomsa Mahlangu ripped one home at 12:46, assisted by Mandla Zulu, leveling matters at one apiece. The third and overtime were tightly contested—20 hits across the game, three fights, and a late brawl in overtime when Felipe Carvalho and Pieter Botha dropped the mitts at 14:49. Neither side could separate, and the shootout followed.
It was Thiago Pereira who ended it, calmly picking a corner at 5:31 of the shootout. The Serpents, favored at 1.52, won as expected—but the Jaguars made them earn every point. Incroyable effort from Johannesburg.
GDL 3 — RIM 1
The Guadalajara Gatos were the evening's most straightforward favorites at 1.56, and they delivered accordingly at El Rincón Perdido. A messy, physical first period set the stage for a wire-to-wire Gatos win.
Valentina Ramírez opened the scoring at 5:53 off a Santiago Torres feed, then Rimini's Lorenzo Fabbri—who picked up two penalties in the period alone—gave the Gatos the power play they needed. Carlos Morales converted at 11:18. The Rinklers did pull one back when Nico De Luca finished a Matteo Galli pass at 12:08, sending the period out 2-1. Any momentum Rimini might have gathered evaporated quickly in the second when Mateo Guzmán buried one just 52 seconds in, assisted by Alejandra Ríos, pushing Guadalajara back out to a two-goal cushion.
The third was damage control, with the Gatos content to play physical and protect the lead. Rodrigo Vargas—who was a force all night with three hits on Francesca Serra alone—capped his evening by challenging Serra to a fight at 10:42, both earning majors. The Rinklers couldn't find a way through. A workmanlike win for the home side.
TOK 6 — BUS 7
Mon Dieu. Where do you even begin? Thirteen goals. A comeback from 2-5 down. Overtime. A shootout. The Neon Crossing was absolutely unhinged on Matchday 11, and Busan—entering at 2.05, a slight underdog—pulled off the upset on the road.
The Blizzards came flying out of the gate, going up 2-1 in the first on a Yuna Kang power play goal and a Dong-wook Yoon finish. The second period belonged almost entirely to Busan—four goals to Tokyo's one, including an Eun-bi Han power play conversion and a Hyun-woo Kwon man-advantage strike that sent the Blizzards into the third up 5-2. The game appeared over.
And then the Titans scored four times in the third. Riku Mori, Sakura Shimizu, Mio Kobayashi, and Hina Takahashi—each found the net, with Hina Takahashi's goal at 13:43 and a stunning Min-jun Lee bat-play at 14:26 completing the comeback to 6-6. The building was in full eruption. Mori and Hye-jin Choi decided they needed to fight at 14:58—naturally—and headed to the box as overtime loomed. Overtime produced exactly one notable hit and no goals. It took Soo-yeon Park, calmly converting in the shootout at 10:31, to finally end it. Quel match! Dong-wook Yoon's three-point night for Busan was the backbone. A game this league will talk about for a while.
DKR 0 — VLA 1
Twenty-seven hits. Eight penalties. Zero goals for 55 minutes. The Sandy Parlor hosted one of the most physically intense low-scoring affairs you'll ever see, and in the end it was a single Vladivostok marker that separated two teams who spent the better part of an evening trying to knock each other through the boards.
The first two periods were a war of attrition—both clubs trading massive open-ice hits, earning trips to The Sixth, but unable to convert. Mariama Cissé was the standout in the damage department for the Djinns, recording four hits on the night and consistently winning her battles along the boards. But it was Vladivostok that broke the deadlock when Kirill Morozov found the back of the net at 5:29 of the third, assisted by Vera Orlova, who had drawn a penalty just minutes before to create the pressure. The Djinns pushed back—penalties on Modou Diouf and Ibrahima Sarr late didn't help—but Vladivostok's goaltender held firm.
The Vodkas entered as slight favorites at 1.76 and won 1-0. Sometimes one goal is all the game gives you. The Djinns will feel they left something on the ice tonight.
PRA 2 — NRB 1
The Stone Opera saw the Prague Phantoms justify their 1.43 odds with a composed home win over the Nairobi Narwhals—though it wasn't without drama. This was a game decided in the first period and then defended with grit and fists through the final buzzer.
Kateřina Dvořáková opened the scoring just 84 seconds in with a spectacular bat-play, Martin Procházka collecting the helper. When Samuel Njoroge took his second penalty of the period at 9:06, Tereza Horáková punished them on the power play, burying a David Růžička feed at 9:34. Prague went to the dressing room up 2-0, and that would prove enough. Nairobi got one back in the second when Akinyi Ochieng finished a Brian Kipchoge assist at 3:07, sparking a period that also included two separate fighting majors—Peter Kimani and Jakub Černý going at it at 3:48, then Eliška Veselá and Kevin Otieno adding their own bout shortly after.
The third was a series of collisions and confrontations, capped by an Amara Osei-Barbora Králová fight at 13:49 and another Kimani-Černý rematch in the dying seconds. Prague held on. Comfortable on the scoreboard; anything but comfortable on the ice.
USH 1 — STO 2
The Stockholm Sirens came into The South Passage as clear 1.51 favorites and went home with what they came for, though Ushuaia pushed them to the very end. A tidy, well-structured road win from Stockholm.
Klara Åström gave the Sirens the lead at 5:30 of the first, Viktor Hallberg feeding her with a composed assist. The second period was dominated by physicality—Axel Lindqvist and Elin Sjöberg repeatedly punishing Florencia Ramos in particular—before Valentina Giménez of the Undertow briefly dropped the gloves with Filip Nyström at 12:06 in what felt like a team statement as much as a personal dispute. That fire carried into the third: Giménez actually scored to tie the game at 2:58, assisted by Agustín Medina, showing she could contribute both with her fists and her stick.
But Stockholm responded. Albin Nordlund converted at 13:03—Astrid Engström with the assist—to restore the lead, and Ushuaia couldn't find an answer in the final two minutes despite a late Tomás Peralta-Maja Forsberg fight adding to the chaos at 9:06. The Sirens win it 2-1. Their road composure is something to note.
HEL 1 — PER 2
The Dark Sauna was buzzing from the opening drop and Perth's Nate Hargrove made sure of it, scoring an absolute beauty just 38 seconds into the game—an Liam O'Brien setup—to give the Pyres the lead before most of the Helsinki Howlers had even broken a sweat. It set the tone for Perth, who held that lead for the entire contest.
Liam O'Brien would add a second at 14:59 of the second—a late Eliza Cartwright assist making it 2-0 going into the final frame. Helsinki's Mikko Hämäläinen gave the home crowd something to believe in at 5:25 of the third with a Saara Virtanen-assisted beauty that trimmed the deficit to one. The Howlers pressed hard. Penalties flew—Zara Patel, Jenni Laine, and Anniina Tuominen all took trips to The Sixth in the final ten minutes—and O'Brien capped his own remarkable evening by dropping the gloves with Noora Koskinen at 11:44, earning a fighting major in a game already decided.
O'Brien: one goal, one assist, one fight. The Pyres win 2-1 in a game that was closer than the score suggests—but Perth's hold on the lead never truly felt in danger. A professional performance on the road.
HAV 2 — ANC 1
The Rhythm Bureau lived up to its name on Matchday 11. Five fights, 13 penalties, 18 hits—the Havana Hammers and Anchorage Auroras created a raucous, relentless contest that the favored home side won 2-1. Havana entered at 1.54 and largely handled their business, but Anchorage made them earn every moment.
Jake Hensley of the Auroras took a penalty just 36 seconds into the game—and Yordanis Sánchez made them pay immediately, burying a Yoandri Hernández feed at 1:46 on the power play. Osmany Leyva and Levi Simmonds traded punches at 13:16 to punctuate a combative first. Dayana Rodríguez extended the Hammers' lead at 2:13 of the second, but Bryce Denison answered at 8:23 for the Auroras, assisted by Isaiah Tobin, keeping it close at 2-1. What followed was a penalty cavalcade: four more fights in the second and third periods—Claudia Pérez vs. Carlos Medina, Heather Braund vs. Mailén Domínguez, Yarelys González vs. Jake Hensley, Kira Naluktaq vs. Mailén Domínguez—the latter two in a frenetic third period where Anchorage was desperate to find the tying goal.
They couldn't. Havana's defense held, and the Hammers close out a loud, spirited home win.
WPG 2 — MCM 1
The Cold Lodge delivered a compact, well-earned Winnipeg Wendigos victory over the McMurdo Monoliths—a game defined by two strong individual performances and a second period that proved decisive. Winnipeg came in at 1.81 and put together exactly the kind of professional home effort those odds demand.
McMurdo drew first blood in the first—Yumi Takeda converting a Curtis Favel penalty at 3:53, the Monoliths capitalizing on the power play. But Leah Blacksmith answered for Winnipeg at 10:17 on a Marissa Spence helper, sending the period out level. The decisive blow came in the second when Kaya Bearclaw lit the lamp at 13:24, Tyler Chicken credited with the assist, giving the Wendigos a 2-1 lead they would not relinquish. Blacksmith was the night's most complete performer—a goal, a fight when Sven Lindberg went after Marissa Spence in the second and Blacksmith responded in kind, and consistent physical play throughout.
The third was controlled, Winnipeg content to limit chances. Ji-hoon Baek of McMurdo and Blacksmith did trade majors at 7:54 in what felt like one last attempt to change the game's momentum. It didn't work. Winnipeg sees out a two-point night. Clean. Efficient. Wendigos hockay.
Matchday 11 is in the books—an upset in Montréal, a thirteen-goal exhibition in Tokyo, two overtime shootouts, and enough battles along the glass to fill a highlight package three times over. Rahul Nair was simultaneously the most entertaining and most penalized player on the ice this weekend; Soo-yeon Park and Thiago Pereira were ice-cold when their teams needed them most; and Liam O'Brien reminded everyone that Perth's road trip is something to watch. We'll see you on Matchday 12. Bonne nuit à tous.
—JM Laflèche, Voice of Hockay
Le Council notes that Matchday 11 has concluded. Ten games were played. Results have been recorded. The Council expresses no further opinion on the matter.