Playoff Recap: S01P02

Game 2 is where a playoff series finds its shape. Last night three home teams won and Montréal stole one on the road. Tonight the away teams got their chance to answer—and in two of four matchups, they did. In the other two, the road teams were told, firmly and repeatedly, that the answer was no. Voici la réponse.

MTL 1 — GDL 3

The Oldest RinkMontréal Maples · 31,272 capacity · Syrup has been Montréal's sanctuary all season. Tonight, Guadalajara reminded them that postseason geography is a suggestion. Five fights, eighteen hits, and in the end it was Daniela SalazarD · GDL · ●●○○○ · Heavy, Magnetic and Mateo GuzmánC · GDL · ●●●○○ · Heavy who settled the question on ice that wasn't supposed to belong to them.

The first period was pure declaration. Jean-François TremblayLW · MTL · ●●●●○ · Luminous, Ancient hit Santiago TorresRW · GDL · ●●●●○ · Tidal, TorresG · HAV · ●●●○○ · Awake hit back, and they fought at 1:04—eight seconds after the return blow. Jean-René BergeronC · MTL · ●●●○○ · Awake, Sharp, Clumsy and Sofía NavarroD · GDL · ●●●●○ · Brittle, Foggy, Heavy, Echo, Sharp followed at 6:48. Two fights, zero goals, and The Oldest RinkMontréal Maples · 31,272 capacity · Syrup already knew the temperature this evening would hold.

Guadalajara broke through in the second. SalazarD · GDL · ●●○○○ · Heavy, Magnetic put it on the shelf at 5:07—GuzmánC · GDL · ●●●○○ · Heavy threading the setup—and when Alexandre PaquetteD · MTL · ●●●○○ · Wandering, Brittle, Echo, Sharp and Andrés RojasD · GDL · ●●●●○ · Heavy, Burning, Brittle, Clumsy, Quiet dropped the gloves at 12:35 and both departed for five, Camila FloresLW · GDL · ●●●○○ · Quiet added a second at 13:34, Salazar picking up her second point of the night. Two-nothing going into the third.

Montréal pulled one back when Catherine LavoieLW · MTL · ●●●○○ · Magnetic, Awake batted one out of the air at 11:25—Philippe DuboisC · MTL · ●●●○○ · Echo, Tidal, Awake with the pass—and the building believed briefly. Then Sofía NavarroD · GDL · ●●●●○ · Brittle, Foggy, Heavy, Echo, Sharp ended it at 13:29, GuzmánC · GDL · ●●●○○ · Heavy with his second assist. Lavoie and Valentina RamírezC · GDL · ●●●●○ · Brittle, Heavy fought at 14:59—because there was nothing left to do but fight. SalazarD · GDL · ●●○○○ · Heavy, Magnetic: one goal, one assist, one hit. Guzmán: two assists, one hit. The Gatos come to Montréal and leave with a split.

Series: Tied 1–1. Deciding Game 3 in Guadalajara.

MCM 2 — TOK 1

The Remote RangeMcMurdo Monoliths · 2,347,816 capacity · Penguins has a way of making visitors doubt themselves. Tokyo had won Game 1 on overtime heroics—Yūma HayashiD · TOK · ●●●●○ · Burning at 14:04. McMurdo invited them to Antarctica for a different kind of game: physical, grinding, decided by small margins and held for sixty minutes. The Monoliths answered cleanly.

The first period had no goals and no fights. Four hits per side, Chris ElliotRW · MCM · ●●●●○ · Brittle, Wandering took a minor penalty, no one capitalized. Both teams were reading each other. Nineteen combined hits across the game, zero fights—a number that says everything about what kind of HockayA sport no one asked for but everyone needed. The Remote RangeMcMurdo Monoliths · 2,347,816 capacity · Penguins produces.

Yumi TakedaC · MCM · ●●●●● · Echo, Burning, Clumsy put McMurdo ahead at 12:30 of the second—Ingrid SolheimD · MCM · ●●●●○ · Burning with the assist—and McMurdo spent the rest of the game defending it with discipline. Solheim made it 2-0 at 11:10 of the third, Takeda returning the favour with the assist. Tokyo found their only answer when HayashiD · TOK · ●●●●○ · Burning converted a power play at 14:22—Sakura ShimizuD · TOK · ●●●●○ · Magnetic, Awake setting it up—but it came with 38 seconds remaining. Too late.

TakedaC · MCM · ●●●●● · Echo, Burning, Clumsy: one goal, one assist, one hit. SolheimD · MCM · ●●●●○ · Burning: same. HayashiD · TOK · ●●●●○ · Burning: one goal, three hits, the best individual night on the wrong side of the result. The series is level and heading to Tokyo. La série est à égalité.

Series: Tied 1–1. Deciding Game 3 in Tokyo.

USH 1 — RIM 4

The South PassageUshuaia Undertow · 4,137 capacity · Drag did not change the outcome. Rimini arrived with a 1-0 series lead and left with a series win, and the four-goal margin reflects a game they controlled through a first period that spotted Ushuaia one and then immediately took two.

Rimini scored first at 8:22—Nico De LucaD · RIM · ●●○○○ · Foggy, Magnetic finishing, Chiara RicciRW · RIM · ●●○○○ · Ancient with the setup—before Matteo GalliLW · RIM · ●●○○○ · Foggy doubled the lead at 10:01, Valentina ColomboD · RIM · ●●●●○ · Heavy with the first of her three assists on the night. Ushuaia answered just before the period ended: Facundo ÁlvarezRW · USH · ●●●●○ · Clumsy, Quiet at 14:48, Matías FernándezLW · USH · ●●●●○ · Brittle, Awake assisting. One-two after one. A foothold.

The second period gave Ushuaia nothing. Four hits, no goals, no penalties. The South PassageUshuaia Undertow · 4,137 capacity · Drag absorbed the silence.

Lorenzo FabbriD · RIM · ●●●●○ · Heavy, Tidal, Clumsy, Awake, Ancient closed it in the third. He scored at 1:41—ColomboD · RIM · ●●●●○ · Heavy assisting again—then ÁlvarezRW · HAV · ●●●○○ · Ancient took a penalty at 2:07, and Fabbri converted the power play at 3:37, Colombo picking up her third point of the night. The series ends in two games, five total goals across both, and a performance from Colombo—three assists, one hit—that deserved a longer stage. Fabbri: two goals, one hit. Rimini avance.

Series: Rimini wins 2–0. Rimini RinklersRimini advance to the Semi-Finals.

HAV 1 — PER 5

Perth arrived at The Rhythm BureauHavana Hammers · 14,623 capacity · Rhythm and took it apart in the first period. One period. Four goals. The Havana HammersHavana had been outscored 4-2 at The Red FurnacePerth Pyres · 16,849 capacity · Melt in Game 1—tonight they were down 4-1 before the second period began, and The RhythmThe more hits the Hammers land, the better their stats get. Physical play is fuel. Bureau never recovered its name.

Yarelys GonzálezD · HAV · ●●●○○ · Clumsy, Brittle, Echo took a penalty at 6:34. Dayana RodríguezLW · HAV · ●●●○○ · Clumsy actually scored for Havana on the ensuing chaos at 7:08—Yordanis SánchezD · HAV · ●●○○○ · Quiet, Sharp assisting—and for one moment the deficit was Havana's, a surprise reversed. Then Perth answered immediately: Nate HargroveD · PER · ●●●○○ · Echo, Brittle, Heavy on the power play at 7:17 (Liam O'BrienRW · PER · ●●●●○ · Brittle, Burning assisting), Oscar WhitfieldD · PER · ●●●○○ · Doubled, Awake, Clumsy at 9:25 (Riley DawsonC · PER · ●●●○○ · Wandering feeding him), Sienna KapoorD · PER · ●●●●○ · Magnetic, Sharp, Ancient, Clumsy, Foggy at 11:17 (Cooper HaleLW · PER · ●●○○○ · Awake, Translated, Magnetic assisting), Riley Dawson himself at 14:42 (Tahlia NguyenLW · PER · ●●●○○ · Sharp assisting). Four goals in seven minutes. The period ended 1-4 and the series effectively ended with it.

The second was penalties and attrition. Three Havana calls, no one scoring, Perth content to protect. HargroveD · PER · ●●●○○ · Echo, Brittle, Heavy added his second on the power play at 6:13 of the third—O'BrienRW · PER · ●●●●○ · Brittle, Burning with his second assist—and Jack MitchellLW · PER · ●●●●○ · Luminous, Echo and Osmany LeyvaRW · HAV · ●●○○○ · Translated fought at 14:59, settling something that was no longer in dispute. Hargrove: two goals, both power play. O'Brien: two assists, two hits. Perth sweep the series and advance without breaking stride.

Series: Perth wins 2–0. Perth PyresPerth advance to the Semi-Finals.

Two series are finished. Rimini and Perth punched their tickets to the Semi-Finals with performances that were never particularly close after the first twenty minutes of each game. Guadalajara and McMurdo showed enough to survive and will get their deciding game tomorrow—the Gatos at home, the Titans at home. Two teams with everything left to play for. Demain, ça se décide.

—JM Laflèche, Voice of HockayA sport no one asked for but everyone needed.

Le CouncilThe governing body of Hockay and Unexplained Ice Phenomena. acknowledges that Playoff Matchday 2 occurred and notes, with characteristic institutional economy, that two Quarter-Final series have concluded. The Rimini RinklersRimini and Perth PyresPerth have advanced to the Semi-Finals. Le Council confirms this is consistent with the bracket and has no concerns to register at this time. Le Council observes that two series required a deciding game and will schedule said games accordingly. Le Council further observes that the Montréal MaplesMontréal won in The Oldest RinkMontréal Maples · 31,272 capacity · Syrup this evening as the visiting team, which Le Council is placing in the same file as the other Montréal things. The record has been updated.