Matchday Recap: S01D21
Matchday 21 gave us everything the league has to offer—brawls in the south, a shootout thriller in the salt flats, a historic blowout at The Stone Opera, and more than a few results that had the oddsmakers reaching for something stronger. Fourteen teams, eleven games, and not a quiet moment among them. Allons-y.
MTL 1 — JBG 2
The Oldest Rink had a proper battle on its hands Saturday night, and for a long stretch it looked like the Montréal Maples would hold on at home. The oddsmakers actually liked Johannesburg slightly (1.79 to Montréal's 2.03), and in the end they were right—though nobody was walking out of that building feeling comfortable about it.
The first period was vintage Maples chaos: Marc-Antoine Dufresne got whistled just thirteen seconds in, Philippe Dubois and Kagiso Molefe had barely settled into their skates before they were throwing punches at 0:53, and then—just eleven seconds after the dust cleared—Dmitri Volkov opened the scoring with an assist from Jean-René Bergeron. Montréal in front, atmosphere crackling.
The Jaguars answered in the second when Pieter Botha converted on the man advantage, Bergeron's own penalty proving costly. One apiece heading to the third, with both benches already feeling the miles.
The third period was ugly and electric in equal measure. Marc-Antoine Dufresne fought Lindiwe Sithole at 3:38, then Botha and Alexandre Paquette went at it minutes later, then Zanele Ndaba and Volkov squared off at 10:18. Three fights in one period—c'est du hockey pur. Through it all, Thabo Mokoena stayed composed long enough to find the back of the net at 8:01, assisted by Sipho Nkosi, and that goal held. Johannesburg steals two points at The Oldest Rink.
MUM 2 — RIM 3
Quelle soirée at The Salt Pavilion. Through forty minutes of regulation—a cluttered, penalty-riddled forty minutes, mind you—neither the Mumbai Monsoons nor the Rimini Rinklers had managed a single goal. The second period alone produced seven penalties and not one puck past a goaltender. Something had to give.
It finally did in the third, and then it gave four more times in rapid succession. Arjun Patil broke the drought at 4:29, assisted by Kiran Bhatt. Marco Rossetti answered on the man advantage at 10:01, Giulia Bianchi picking up the helper. But Patil wasn't done—just forty-two seconds later he put Mumbai back ahead with his second of the night. Then Matteo Galli buried a power play goal of his own at 13:44, tying it at two and sending a packed Salt Pavilion into overtime.
Overtime solved nothing. Galli was threatening at both ends, but neither side could find the breakthrough across the extra frame. Into the shootout they went, and it was Lorenzo Fabbri—the Italian forward who'd been a menace on the forecheck all game—who delivered the winner at 14:31 of the fifth period. The Rinklers win it 3-2, a genuine upset at odds of 2.38 against a Monsoons side priced at 1.59. Arjun Patil finishes with two goals and will take nothing from this loss except the memory of them.
TOK 3 — SAO 4
The Neon Crossing earned its name Saturday. Seven goals, two fights, ten penalties, twenty-three hits—Tokyo and São Paulo put on a show that had the arena's lights flickering by the third period. The Serpents came in as slight underdogs at 2.00, with the Tokyo Titans priced at 1.82, and they walked away with a result that was never truly in hand.
São Paulo struck first through Isabela Costa at 6:54, but Tokyo's Aoi Yamamoto tied it before the first period was out, and then Sakura Shimizu—who would end up the night's standout performer with two goals and an assist—converted on the power play at 12:55 to give the Titans a lead. Meanwhile, Gabriel Rodrigues and Ren Inoue were settling their differences with their fists, because why not?
The second period belonged entirely to the Serpents. Bruno Nascimento scored twice in under three minutes—8:44 and 10:58—both assisted by different linemates, both perfectly placed. São Paulo up 3-2 heading to the third.
Then Gustavo Ribeiro scored ten seconds into the third period. Ten seconds. Before most of the crowd had sat back down. Montréal fans at home watching the ticker would have winced in recognition. Shimizu answered again on the power play at 10:59 to make it 3-4, but it wasn't enough. São Paulo held on. Nascimento with two goals, Shimizu with two of her own on the other side—this one will be argued about for a while.
GDL 3 — VLA 0
Clean. Clinical. Completely Guadalajara. The Gatos handled business at El Rincón Perdido against the Vladivostok Vodkas without drama or debate, winning 3-0 in a game the oddsmakers broadly agreed could go either way (1.83 home, 1.99 away).
It was settled early. Alejandra Ríos opened the scoring on the power play at 4:46—a Denis Baranov penalty compounded by Artyom Volkov's minor just minutes before gifting Guadalajara a two-man advantage—and Diego Hernández doubled the lead at 10:53, Sofía Navarro picking up the assist on both. Ríos was everywhere in that first period: she hit, she set up goals, she scored one herself. A complete first-period performance from a player who was clearly intent on making a statement.
Navarro then got her own goal in the second at 5:18, assisted by Santiago Torres, and that was that. The third period was a hitting contest with the result already decided—eighteen total hits in the game, but the Vodkas couldn't find the back of a net that seemed to get smaller with every passing minute. Vladivostok's goaltending was tested; it was the offense that let them down. Guadalajara blanks them and Navarro finishes with a goal and an assist. Très solide.
PRA 1 — BUS 7
There is no polite way to write about what happened at The Stone Opera. The Busan Blizzards arrived as underdogs at 2.11—Prague was priced at 1.73 at home—and they proceeded to dismantle the Phantoms in a way that felt almost surgical by the end of the second period.
Soo-yeon Park opened it at 0:42 of the first, assisted by Min-jun Lee. Ji-eun Shin added a second before the period was out. Prague got to the intermission down two, which was survivable. Then came the second period. Hye-jin Choi scored twice—the first on the power play, the second a beauty at 6:00—and Dong-wook Yoon and Min-jun Lee added goals of their own. In a span of a little over four minutes the game went from 2-0 to 6-0. C'est incroyable, and not in a flattering way for the home side.
Tereza Horáková and Min-jun Lee had a fight at 0:40 of the second that set the tone: even the toughness felt mismatched. So-hee Hwang added a seventh in the third, and Adam Fiala's consolation goal for Prague at 11:22 felt more like a mercy than anything. Choi's two-goal, two-hit night earns top performer honors, but this belonged to the Blizzards as a unit. Eight total goals, a complete road beatdown. Prague will need to look at this one very honestly.
DKR 1 — STO 0
Eighteen hits, one goal. That's The Sandy Parlor for you, and that's the Dakar Djinns refusing to be pushed around at home. Stockholm came in as the favorites at 1.74—Dakar priced at 2.10—and left with nothing to show for it. An upset, and a well-earned one.
Rokhaya Faye provided the only goal the night would need at 11:31 of the first period, Moussa Ndiaye picking up the helper. From that moment forward, the Djinns did what they do best: they hit everything that moved. Khady Bâ and Ousmane Diallo each registered three hits on the night, and the Stockholm Sirens—despite sustained pressure that kept the scoreboard frozen—couldn't find an answer for a defense that treated every stride into their zone as an invitation to a collision.
The third period had its anxious moments. Albin Nordlund took a penalty at 1:17, Cheikh Fall answered with one of his own at 1:24, and Lucas Bredberg took one at 14:31 to give Dakar a late power play they didn't need. The lead was already safe. Faye scores the winner and disappears into the celebration; the Djinns pick up two massive points against a side that should have been too good for them. Should have.
HEL 1 — NRB 2
The Dark Sauna lived up to its name—low-scoring, tense, full of suffocating defensive structure. The Helsinki Howlers entered the night as modest favorites at 1.96 against the Nairobi Narwhals' 1.85, and lost in a result that felt like a tight game resolved by fine margins rather than a genuine upset in character.
The first period was all penalty trouble and minimal offense—three infractions, no goals, some hard work along the boards but nothing through. Then, in the second, Jenni Laine broke the deadlock at 11:46, Elina Heikkinen with the assist. Juhani Rantanen and Dennis Wafula exchanged blows moments later, and that fight seemed to wake the Narwhals up.
Nairobi responded immediately in the third—James Odhiambo tied it at 2:01, Kevin Otieno assisting. Helsinki battled back, kept possession, worked the corners. But penalties cost them dearly. With Juhani Rantanen in The Sixth at 8:27, Nyambura Kamau made it 2-1 at 10:49 with the power play goal, Brian Kipchoge drawing the helper. Rantanen went from fight hero to box villain in a single period, and the Narwhals walked out of The Dark Sauna with two points they'll treasure. Helsinki's goaltending held up until it couldn't.
USH 3 — ANC 4
The South Passage delivered chaos from the opening faceoff and never relented. Ushuaia were the clear favorites at 1.67; Anchorage arrived at 2.21 and left with the two points. An upset, delivered in the most Hockay way imaginable—late goals, a fight at full speed, and a game that changed shape every three minutes.
The Undertow opened the scoring through Ignacio Herrera at 4:00, and had the lead for a comfortable stretch. The second period unraveled everything. Levi Simmonds tied it on the Auroras' side, Facundo Álvarez restored Ushuaia's lead, and then Cody Tulik answered to make it 2-2 at the midway point. Third period: Tulik added his second at 10:36, Heather Braund pushed Anchorage ahead at 11:09, and then Valentina Giménez and Carlos Medina decided to fight at 13:50—because at 13:48, Giménez had hit him, and some hits require a response.
Through it all, Agustín Medina buried the dagger at 14:24 to make it 3-4 with thirty-six seconds left on the clock, Matías Fernández picking up his second assist of the night. Ushuaia would take a late penalty with nine seconds left—adding insult—but it didn't matter. Anchorage holds on. Tulik with two goals, Fernández with two assists. An absolute war at the bottom of the world.
WPG 2 — PER 4
The Cold Lodge saw five upsets on Matchday 21, and this was one of them—Perth arriving at 1.95 against a Winnipeg side priced at 1.86, two even-money clubs, and the Pyres came out the better team. Convincingly.
Tyler Chicken got Winnipeg started early at 1:15, Brody Flett assisting. But Perth answered fast: Tahlia Nguyen converted on the power play at 6:13, and Mia Thornton—who was physical and precise all night—put the Pyres ahead at 11:18. Three goals in the first period, and the lead already flipped.
Nate Hargrove made it 3-1 Perth in the second, before Anna Flett answered for Winnipeg at 8:28. Tahlia Nguyen and Jake Fehr had dropped the gloves at 1:32 of the second—an early temperature-setter—and the physicality remained elevated throughout. But the Wendigos never truly threatened to catch up. Callum Reeves sealed it with a third-period goal at 9:43, Cooper Hale picking up the helper—his second point of the night alongside a solid hitting performance. Sienna Kapoor's two assists quietly ran the show for Perth. Winnipeg will want to look at a first period where they scored first and still found themselves behind.
HAV 9 — MCM 3
Save the best for last. Quel match. The Havana Hammers put on a performance at The Rhythm Bureau that this league will be talking about for weeks—nine goals against the McMurdo Monoliths in a game that never felt especially close after the first period.
Orlando Machado opened the scoring on the power play at 12:43 of the first. Routine enough. Then the second period arrived and Havana remembered what sport they play. Natasha Borova scored at 0:38. Dayana Rodríguez at 2:51. Osmany Leyva at 3:04. Adonis Reyes at 4:22. Then Borova again—on the power play—at 8:22. Then Yordanis Sánchez at 14:31. Six goals in one period, and McMurdo's Sven Lindberg and Yoandri Hernández had a fight in the middle of it all at 3:31, as if the scoreboard wasn't already rearranging itself fast enough to follow.
McMurdo managed three—Borova had two goals and Ji-hoon Baek assisted her power play effort for the visitors' side, and Amira Hassan scored a late consolation at 14:08—but it was cosmetic. The Hammers were at 1.72; the Monoliths at 2.13. No upset here, just a reminder of what Havana looks like when the engine runs hot. Dayana Rodríguez finishes with two goals and an assist. Yoandri Hernández scores and assists and fights. The Rhythm Bureau was the loudest building on the planet for those final two periods. Magnifique.
Matchday 21 is in the books—five upsets, forty-seven goals across eleven games, and a shootout result that nobody in Mumbai or Rimini will soon forget. We'll be back for Matchday 22, and I suspect the standings are going to look rather different by the time we get there. Until then, take care of yourselves.
—JM Laflèche, Voice of Hockay
Le Council notes that Matchday 21 has concluded. Eleven contests were observed. Forty-seven goals were recorded. The Council has no further comment at this time.