Matchday Recap: S01D29
Matchday 29 had something for everyone—dominant blowouts, knife-edge shootouts, a pair of genuine upsets, and the Sixth appearing in every game across the day. Ten games of hockey, and not a dull one in the bunch. Let's get into it.
WPG 5 — MTL 1
The Cold Lodge was humming from puck drop, and the Winnipeg Wendigos made sure it stayed that way. The first period was a physical statement—six hits in the opening six minutes before Tara Ridsdale lit the lamp at 10:35, with Jake Fehr picking up the helper. Less than a minute later, Brody Flett made it 2-0, Kaya Bearclaw assisting. The Wendigos had their legs under them and they were rolling.
The second period delivered everything: coincidental penalties in the opening two minutes, Brody Flett finishing checks, Nicole Flett driving Marc-Antoine Dufresne into the glass. Then came the Sixth at 8:08—the whole building vanished, as it does. When play resumed, Leah Blacksmith got Winnipeg's third. Montréal answered through Dmitri Volkov, batting one out of the air—a highlight-reel reply, credit where it's due—but that was as close as the Maples would get.
The third period was a clinic. Nicole Flett scored at 3:47, Anna Flett added one a minute later, and suddenly it was 5-1. Jake Fehr and Amélie Bouchard traded majors in a late fight, settling what had been a chippy evening. C'est une victoire convaincante for Winnipeg—five different goal-scorers, physical from first shift to last.
ANC 2 — MCM 3
*Quel match! *The Watch Station was treated to a full evening of hockey—regulation, overtime, and a shootout before the McMurdo Monoliths took it 3-2. Isaiah Tobin opened the scoring for Anchorage at 3:10 of the first, but Amira Hassan answered for McMurdo less than a minute later—just fifty seconds, to be exact. A Priya Anand–Molly Kavairlook fight added some early heat.
The second period swung McMurdo's way. Yumi Takeda and Carlos Medina dropped the gloves at 2:45, both taking majors. Then the Sixth opened at 7:49—just seconds after Elena Varga had found the back of the net to put McMurdo ahead. The Council observed. Play eventually resumed. A Paige Riordan minor and an Amira Hassan penalty kept things complicated.
Anchorage tied it in the third when Molly Kavairlook—back from her penalty troubles—batted one out of the air at 2:38. The game went to overtime, where McMurdo held on through two rounds of Natasha Borova and Molly Kavairlook penalties before Takeda settled it in the shootout, picking her corner with the calm of someone who'd been waiting all night to do exactly that. McMurdo came in as slight favourites at 1.84 and earned every bit of it.
HAV 2 — HEL 4
This one will sting for Havana. The Hammers entered The Rhythm Bureau listed at 1.58—clear favourites over the Helsinki Howlers—and came out on the wrong end of a 4-2 scoreline. Upset confirmed. Helsinki were the better team, and the numbers show it.
The Howlers dominated the first period through Jenni Laine, who scored at 3:17 off Elina Heikkinen's setup, and then Heikkinen herself converted on the power play at 13:24, punishing Adonis Reyes for a Havana penalty. Two goals before the first horn sounded, and Havana couldn't seem to get organized.
The second opened in wild fashion—Mikko Hämäläinen made it 3-0 at 0:35, and fifteen seconds later Yanelis Peña responded with Havana's first goal of the night. Give the Hammers credit for refusing to fold. The Sixth arrived at 10:25, the ice went quiet, and when it returned so did the hitting—fifteen total on the night. A third period goal from Dayana Rodríguez made it 2-3, but Hämäläinen buried his second of the night at 12:01—a beauty assisted by Aleksi Korhonen, who finished with two helpers. Korhonen was exceptional all night, and Hämäläinen's two-goal effort was the performance Matchday 29 deserved.
STO 1 — PER 3
The Still Strait is always a difficult building—quiet, precise, with just enough menace—and Matchday 29 offered a steady, well-constructed road win for the Perth Pyres. Stockholm held firm through a scoreless first period, despite Sienna Kapoor making her presence known with consecutive hits on Filip Nyström and Axel Lindqvist inside the opening two minutes.
Perth cracked the deadlock early in the second. Eliza Cartwright scored at 0:48 with Zara Patel assisting, and moments later, when Axel Lindqvist went to The Sixth for a penalty, Oscar Whitfield didn't waste the man advantage—power play goal, Tahlia Nguyen assisting, and suddenly it was 0-2. The Sixth opened shortly after at 9:59. The Council waited. The game resumed.
The third period belonged to both sides in different ways. Nyström finally got Stockholm on the board at 13:25 off Lindqvist's pass—the same Lindqvist who'd cost the team a penalty an hour earlier, making good. But just over a minute later, Liam O'Brien finished it off at 14:28, Cartwright getting her second point of the night with the assist. Perth were 1.68 favourites and delivered a clean, professional performance.
USH 1 — PRA 0
The South Passage hosted what might have been the quietest game of the matchday on paper—one goal, no fights, ten hits—but there was nothing quiet about the tension. The Ushuaia Undertow and Prague Phantoms played the kind of tight, defensive game that the sport produces maybe twice a season, and in the end, a single moment made all the difference.
Both teams traded blows in the first period—seven hits across twelve minutes, with Prague's Tomáš Novák throwing his weight around on multiple Undertow players. The penalty to Matías Fernández in the opening seconds was a foreshadowing of the physical push-pull that defined the match.
Then, at 1:16 of the second, Agustín Medina took a pass from Martina Vega and deposited it past the Prague goaltender. That was your game. The Sixth arrived at 9:32—unresponsive as ever, unhelpful as always—and when play returned Vega stepped up with a body check to underline her presence. Prague pressed in the third, Novák and Markéta Polák applying late pressure, but the Undertow held. Medina, the goal-scorer and top performer, won the game with one shot. Sometimes that's all you get, and you make it count.
VLA 1 — NRB 3
The Nairobi Narwhals came into The Last Terminal as 1.63 favourites and played like they knew it, handing the Vladivostok Vodkas a 3-1 defeat in a game that featured two fights, seven penalties, and a visit from the Sixth. Brian Kipchoge was magnificent—a goal, an assist, a hit, and the kind of engine-room presence that makes everything else work.
Nairobi opened the scoring in the first when Kipchoge found the net at 12:50, assisted by Akinyi Ochieng. Vladivostok never truly recovered, though they refused to go quietly. Moses Okello made it 2-0 in the second at 6:51, and immediately the Vodkas started getting physical—Denis Baranov checked Zawadi Mutua, Artyom Volkov answered with a hit. Then the Sixth swallowed the rink at 8:28. When the ice returned, Darya Kuznetsova pulled one back for Vladivostok at 9:06, assisted by Volkov. A Denis Baranov–Moses Okello fight followed moments later, and Kevin Otieno and Tatiana Novikova added their own confrontation at 14:10. Emotion was high.
Vladivostok couldn't generate the equalizer. Nyambura Kamau put the game away in the third at 6:52, and that was that. Nairobi in control, top to bottom.
DKR 4 — TOK 3
Mon Dieu, what a third period. The Dakar Djinns walked into The Sandy Parlor as near-even favourites (1.97 to Tokyo's 1.84), built a 3-0 lead through forty minutes, and then watched it almost evaporate in the final frame. The Titans were listed as slight favourites, so Dakar's win qualifies as an upset—and an entertaining one.
Ibrahima Sarr opened the scoring in the first, Mamadou Guèye assisting. Mei Fujita was a menace all night, trading punches with Cheikh Fall early and Rokhaya Faye again in the second. Awa Diop was exceptional—two goals, including a beauty at 13:02 assisted by Sarr—and at 3-0 heading into the third, Dakar looked comfortable.
Tokyo had other ideas. Yūma Hayashi started the comeback at 6:31, Shūta Tanaka assisting. Then Ren Inoue scored at 12:32, Fujita—yes, Mei Fujita—picking up the helper after a full game of fighting everyone in sight. Sōta Watanabe made it 3-3 at 13:30, and The Sandy Parlor was suddenly very loud. But Fatou Mbaye settled it at 14:26, assisted by Modou Diouf—the last goal of the game and the most important. Dakar held on. Awa Diop walks away with the headline, but this was a team win that very nearly wasn't.
RIM 1 — BUS 2
The Coastal Pavilion witnessed what I'll call the most ferocious game of Matchday 29. Six fights, thirteen penalties, twenty-one hits—and then a shootout to decide it. The Busan Blizzards were 1.95 underdogs and they earned every point in an upset result.
It started at 0:41 of the first: Eun-bi Han and Luca Ferretti, gloves off before anyone had settled into their seats. So-hee Hwang and Sofia Barbieri followed at 4:03. Elena Moretti scored the only first-period goal at 6:07. The second period featured a Sixth entry at 4:17—the ice went quiet, which was almost a relief—followed by So-hee Hwang and Nico De Luca fighting, and then Seung-ho Jung and Valentina Colombo at the final buzzer. Rimini couldn't score. Busan couldn't score. The hits kept coming.
Soo-yeon Park tied it in the third at 10:59, and overtime resolved nothing—though Park and Valentina Colombo did find time for yet another fight at 10:15 of the extra frame. In the shootout, Park calmly decided it. She finished with two goals, a hit, a fight, and the winner in the skills competition. Magnifique, in the most violent possible sense of the word.
GDL 1 — JBG 3
El Rincón Perdido expected a close contest—Guadalajara were 1.87 favourites, Johannesburg at 1.94—but the Jaguars left with a convincing road win in what qualifies as another Matchday 29 upset. Three fights, twenty-one hits, five goals, and the Sixth watching in silence from wherever it goes. C'était une vraie bataille.
Lindiwe Sithole opened the scoring at 11:51 of the first, assisted by Jaco van der Merwe, following a Bongani Mthembu–Alejandra Ríos fight moments earlier. The second period was frantic: Ríos equalized at 1:17 for Guadalajara, credit to Camila Flores for the helper. But just ninety seconds later, Pieter Botha restored Johannesburg's lead with Lerato Dlamini assisting—and Dlamini would finish the night with two assists, the quiet architect of the Jaguars' win. The Sixth arrived at 4:24. It didn't explain itself. A Botha–Sofía Navarro fight and a Santiago Torres–Lindiwe Sithole fight closed out the period.
Guadalajara pressed in the third but couldn't convert. Bongani Mthembu put the game beyond reach at 13:47, and Lindiwe Sithole sent Andrés Rojas to the ice with fourteen seconds left—a final punctuation mark. Johannesburg were the better team.
MUM 2 — SAO 3
The Salt Pavilion opened to a game the Mumbai Monsoons will want back. Favourites at 1.76 against the São Paulo Serpents (2.07), they led twice—and still lost. Four fights, eighteen hits, thirteen penalties, and a Rafael Oliveira performance that deserved to be the headline of any other matchday.
Mumbai struck first through Aditya Rao at 6:29, Kavya Iyer assisting, but São Paulo immediately answered on the power play—Amanda Barbosa at 10:52, assisted by Thiago Pereira. Divya Mehta restored Mumbai's lead at 14:14, and a 2-1 lead heading to the second felt promising.
The second period was carnage. Three fights—Oliveira versus Rahul Nair, Arjun Patil versus Bruno Nascimento, Isabela Costa versus Kiran Bhatt. Vikram Joshi went to The Sixth and Oliveira punished Mumbai on the power play: 2-2. The Sixth arrived at 7:44 and added its usual commentary of silence. Mumbai couldn't regain the lead. In the third, Oliveira completed his performance with the winner at 2:14, Barbosa assisting again—Barbosa's third point of the night when paired with her two assists. Mumbai pushed, earning multiple penalties against São Paulo late, but the net didn't move. The Serpents upset the Monsoons, and Oliveira—two goals, one fight—was the difference.
Matchday 29 closes with four upsets, two shootouts, the Sixth making its rounds through every arena, and more fights than I can count on both hands. The standings will shift, the conversations in team rooms will be pointed, and I'll see you for Matchday 30. This is Hockay—it never gets old.
—JM Laflèche, Voice of Hockay
Le Council acknowledges that Matchday 29 occurred. The Sixth was present at each venue and has since returned to its prior state of inscrutability. Results are final. The record has been updated accordingly.