Matchday Recap: S01D18
Matchday 18 delivered everything this league can offer—a blowout in Prague, a Sixth-visit shutdown in Perth, a pair of shootout thrillers, and a genuine upset deep in the Ochre Reserve. Settle in, mes amis. There's a lot of ground to cover.
HEL 6 — MTL 1
The Dark Sauna lived up to its name. The Helsinki Howlers came in as ever-so-slight underdogs at 1.93, but you wouldn't have known it from the first shift. Marc-Antoine Dufresne and Aleksi Korhonen were physically imposing from the opening faceoff—Dufresne finished Anniina Tuominen twice inside the first two minutes, setting a tone that Montréal's skaters never recovered from.
The Howlers capitalized on Montréal's indiscipline immediately. Sarah-Maude Fortin took her first penalty at 4:12, and Korhonen made them pay forty-five seconds later on the power play, assisted by Saara Virtanen. Erik Johansson batted one out of the air at 7:32 to make it 2-0, and then things got genuinely heated—Korhonen crushed Élodie Gagnon, Gagnon answered back, and before anyone could intervene the gloves were off. Both fighters took five minutes. The mayhem actually cost Montréal further: Fortin picked up her second penalty of the period, and Philippe Dubois added another, and Juhani Rantanen converted on the ensuing power play to send the teams to the dressing room at 3-0.
The second period was more of the same. Rantanen added his second of the night at 13:28, and Mikko Hämäläinen—assisted twice by the tireless Virtanen—made it five just thirteen seconds later. C'est impitoyable. Jean-François Tremblay gave the Maples fans something to cheer with a goal fourteen seconds into the third, but Helsinki had the last word: Saku Järvinen converted on the power play at 14:59 to seal a 6-1 final. Virtanen's three assists and Rantanen's two-goal night were the stars, but this was a collective statement from Helsinki. Montréal needs to look hard at their penalty discipline—six minor infractions and an offsetting major in one game is simply not survivable.
ANC 2 — STO 3
Quel match! The Watch Station was treated to one of the better entertainments of the matchday as the Anchorage Auroras and Stockholm Sirens went the full distance—overtime and shootout—before Saga Ekström settled it for Stockholm at 4:31 of the shootout period.
The Auroras came flying out of the gate. Kira Naluktaq went top shelf just forty-nine seconds in, assisted by Molly Kavairlook, and the place was already electric. Stockholm answered quickly—but not before Kavairlook and Hugo Wikström had their own conversation with their fists barely four minutes in, both drawing five. On the ensuing power play, Axel Lindqvist cashed in for Stockholm at 7:48 to level things at 1-1 after the first.
The second period was tighter, but Anchorage regained the lead through Carlos Medina at 12:22—another Kavairlook assist, her second of the night despite the fighting major. Montréal—sorry, Anchorage, the pace had me crossing wires—held that lead into the third, where Lindqvist again came up massive, batting one out of the air at 1:36 to equalize. His second goal of the game, his second in different fashions. Very tidy.
Overtime solved nothing, and so we went to the shootout. Ekström, who had been physical and persistent all night along with her check on Heather Braund in the first, was the one to end it. Stockholm were the favorites at 1.78, so the result holds. Lindqvist's two-goal night was decisive, but Kavairlook's two assists out of chaos deserve equal recognition.
PRA 10 — WPG 3
Mon Dieu. The Stone Opera witnessed an absolute demolition. The Prague Phantoms didn't just defeat the Winnipeg Wendigos—they administered a lesson. Ten goals. In regulation. Against a team listed at 1.94, nearly a coin flip.
Prague set the tone inside three minutes. Dylan Fife took a penalty at 2:40, and Barbora Králová buried the power play chance. Then Anna Flett gave them another, and David Růžička made it 2-0. Martin Procházka and Růžička again struck in quick succession to make it 4-0, and Tereza Horáková capped the first period with the fifth at 13:31. Five goals in the first period. Winnipeg's goaltender had nowhere to hide.
The second period brought more of the same. Tomáš Novák, Ondřej Marek on the power play, and Jake Fehr—one of the few bright spots for Winnipeg—added markers to push it to 8-1. By the third it was academic, though Winnipeg showed some pride with Dylan Fife and Brody Flett scoring. The Phantoms had the last word anyway, with Marek completing his excellent two-goal, two-assist night at 14:59.
The physical conclusion to this game was illuminating—two separate fights broke out inside thirty seconds of each other in the third: Markéta Polák and Marissa Spence, then Eliška Veselá and Brendan Fehr. The frustration was palpable. Winnipeg will need a serious reset. For Prague, Adam Fiala's three assists quietly anchored much of the offense. A performance to remember.
MCM 1 — VLA 2
Down at The Remote Range, it was a low-scoring, high-contact affair befitting both these teams—sixteen hits on the night and a game that wasn't decided until late in the third period. The Vladivostok Vodkas came in as slight favorites at 1.84, and they ultimately justified that billing.
The first period was all hitting, no scoring. Both Ingrid Solheim and Tatiana Novikova picked up penalties, but neither team could convert. Physically, it was relentless—Artyom Volkov, Denis Baranov, and Ingrid Solheim were all making their presence felt in open ice.
The goals finally arrived in the second. Diego Fuentes broke through at 4:44 for McMurdo, assisted by Priya Anand, and it looked like the Monoliths might hold the advantage. But barely a minute later, Nikita Sorokin leveled it for Vladivostok with Darya Kuznetsova setting it up. At 13:40, Anastasia Ivanova and Kofi Mensah dropped the gloves in a moment that seemed to energize both benches but clarified little.
The Vodkas won it in the third. With McMurdo's Natasha Borova in The Sixth at 10:46, Denis Baranov converted on the power play at 11:01—Anastasia Ivanova with the assist, continuing her big night after the fighting major. McMurdo pressed late, Ruslan Kozlov and Igor Zaytsev both drawing penalties, but they couldn't find the equalizer. A tight, hard-fought road win for Vladivostok.
TOK 1 — HAV 4
The Neon Crossing was buzzing, but it was the visitors from Havana who left with the points. The Havana Hammers entered at 1.86 and delivered comfortably, with Claudia Pérez orchestrating much of the damage with a goal and two assists.
The first period was extraordinarily penalty-heavy and chaotic—Adonis Reyes and Aoi Yamamoto started fighting inside three minutes, and before the period ended six separate penalties had been called between the two clubs. Somehow, nobody scored.
Havana broke through in the second. Shūta Tanaka took a penalty at 7:32, and Yordanis Sánchez—who would go on to take a penalty himself later—converted the power play at 8:35 with Yanelis Peña assisting. Late in the period, Yūma Hayashi and Reinier Cruz added a fighting major to the tally. C'est beaucoup de chaos.
The third period is where Havana pulled away. Dayana Rodríguez made it 2-0 just fifteen seconds in on the man advantage. Tokyo's Haruto Nakamura answered on a power play at 4:38—the lone home goal on the board—but Mailén Domínguez restored the two-goal cushion at 11:22, and Claudia Pérez herself finished it off at 13:50. Final: 4-1, and it wasn't particularly close after the first goal. Eleven penalties in this game told you everything about the discipline problems on both sides, though Tokyo's were more costly.
PER 1 — RIM 0
This one will take years off your life. The Red Furnace hosted a defensive masterpiece—or, depending on your perspective, a stone wall contest—that produced exactly one goal in forty-five minutes of hockay, plus a visit to The Sixth that nobody in the building has fully processed.
Both goaltenders were superb, and the hitting never relented—fifteen hits on the night. Gemma Fletcher and Valentina Colombo set the tone early by dropping the gloves in the first period, offsetting majors all around. The second period produced a Sixth-dimensional incursion at 3:28 that, per available accounts, removed every player from the ice simultaneously. Le Council issued no statement. The game resumed. We move on.
Into the third at 0-0, and it was Fletcher—the same player who'd already fought Colombo—who decided it. At 4:48, she buried the only goal of the night, assisted by Zara Patel. Sienna Kapoor immediately dropped the gloves with Nico De Luca moments later, as though the tension of all those scoreless minutes had to go somewhere. Three fights total in this game, nine penalties, one goal. Francesca Serra led all players with three hits and a fighting major of her own, but the victory belonged to Perth. The Pyres were favored at 1.68, and their goaltender—unnamed in the scoresheet but obviously magnificent—earned every penny of it tonight.
JBG 1 — USH 2
Die Goue Myn offered up a grinder. The Johannesburg Jaguars and Ushuaia Undertow traded one goal apiece in the first and then spent sixty-plus minutes trying to separate themselves, only to need a shootout to do it. Matías Fernández calmly picked the corner at 2:31 of the shootout period to give Ushuaia the extra point.
The first period featured the only regulation goals—Agustín Medina fired one home at 12:05 for Ushuaia, and Thabo Mokoena answered for Johannesburg eleven seconds later, with Sipho Nkosi providing the setup. Eleven seconds. That's the kind of matchday Matchday 18 has been.
From there it became a physical, penalty-laden standoff. Nkosi picked up a pair of penalties across the second and third, and Lindiwe Sithole and Thandiwe Radebe were active in the hits column for Johannesburg. Valentina Giménez drew a penalty in overtime that gave Johannesburg a power play chance they couldn't convert. The Undertow were listed at 1.83—slight favorites—and they squeezed out the result they needed in the end. Fernández, the shootout hero, had been the visible leader all game long.
NRB 2 — MUM 1
Now here's a result that will turn heads. The Nairobi Narwhals, sitting at odds of 2.56 going into this one—significantly longer than Mumbai's 1.52—found a way to beat the Monsoons at the Ochre Reserve. An upset, full stop.
Mumbai drew first blood, and early. Rahul Nair lit the lamp at 1:41 with Rohan Deshmukh assisting, and the game looked like it was proceeding according to script. But Nairobi pushed back hard in the second. Faith Wanjiru assisted Dennis Wafula's equalizer at 5:33—Wanjiru doing so while already headed to The Sixth on a penalty—and immediately after the goal, Wanjiku Mwangi and Divya Mehta got into it. Rohan Deshmukh and Nyambura Kamau added their own scrap at 14:16. Nairobi brought the heat.
The decisive moment came in the third. With Mumbai's Rahul Nair in the penalty box at 0:49, Nairobi had the man advantage, and Brian Kipchoge cashed it in at 4:53—Akinyi Ochieng with the setup. From there, it was a matter of holding on. Four fights on the night, twelve penalties—this game was barely contained. Kiran Bhatt and James Odhiambo added to the mayhem in the third, and Faith Wanjiru and Meera Naik closed things out with another scrap at 13:01. In the end, Nairobi's grit outweighed Mumbai's credentials. Magnifique.
SAO 3 — DKR 0
The Green Canopy hosted a dominant home performance as the São Paulo Serpents shut out the Dakar Djinns 3-0. The Serpents were heavy favorites at 1.62, and they played like it.
The first period was tight and physical—Gustavo Ribeiro and Mariama Cissé dropped the gloves at 4:30, both getting majors, and eight hits were exchanged across the frame. But no one scored. Then The Sixth arrived mid-second period at 8:20. Players were unaccounted for. Investigations remained ongoing. The game resumed. We are all professionals.
On either side of the incursion, the Serpents did the damage. Mariana Lima went top shelf at 1:12, and Thiago Pereira added a second at 7:11—Rafael Oliveira setting it up beautifully before going on to fight Awa Diop later in the period. The third period was controlled. Camila Ferreira, who had assisted Lima's opener, went top shelf herself at 10:45 to complete a two-point night and seal the shutout. Isabela Costa contributed the assist and had been physical throughout. Clean, efficient, professional from São Paulo. The Djinns never truly threatened after falling behind.
BUS 1 — GDL 4
The Frozen Dock saw the Guadalajara Gatos come in as slim favorites at 1.84 and validate that billing with a comfortable 4-1 win over the Busan Blizzards. The story of this game was Alejandra Ríos, who finished with two goals and one assist—a quietly commanding performance.
Busan actually struck first. So-hee Hwang scored at 2:41 with Yuna Kang assisting, and the home crowd had something to cheer. But Guadalajara leveled it before the period ended, Camila Flores putting one past the Blizzards' keeper at 11:34. Kang and Ji-eun Shin were doing their best to disrupt Guadalajara physically, but the visitors were composed.
In the second, Ríos took the lead for good—converting at 10:33 with Rodrigo Vargas setting her up, after So-hee Hwang had taken a penalty. Ríos then opened the third at 0:37 to make it 3-1, and after some back-and-forth penalty trouble for Busan, Diego Hernández added a power play goal at 9:44 to close out a 4-1 final. Kang picked up two hits for Busan but also a penalty that contributed to the final Gatos goal. A road win the Gatos will take without complaint.
Matchday 18 gave us a proper spread—blowouts, upsets, shootout drama, and at least two incursions by forces that remain formally unacknowledged. The Helsinki-Montréal result is the upset that breaks my heart. That's Hockay for you: the Ice giveth, and the Ice taketh. Tonight, it has taken some of the joy in my heart.
—JM Laflèche, Voice of Hockay
Le Council has noted that Matchday 18 took place and that at least one match broke Jean-Michel's heart. Le Council extends its sympathies to our favorite commenter