Matchday Recap: S02D29
Five upsets on Matchday 29, and the odds board took its worst beating at The South Passage, where Ushuaia—1.45 favorites at home—were shut out completely by a Cairo side that came in at 2.76. Two games needed the shootout to settle things, with McMurdo stealing extra points from a Havana team that opened at 1.46, and Perth needed only forty minutes to build an unanswerable lead in Medellín. Allons-y.
PRA 5 — JBG 1
Johannesburg came into The Stone Opera as 1.78 favorites, and Prague spent sixty minutes making that number look foolish. Pavel Krejčí opened it at 4:33, Kateřina Dvořáková assisting, before Jakub Černý doubled the lead at 10:49 off Markéta Polák's feed. Lindiwe Sithole got one back for the Jaguars at 13:27—Mandla Zulu assisting—but not before Adam Fiala and Thandiwe Radebe had already dropped the gloves at 11:18, coincidental majors sending both to The Sixth. Prague led 2-1 after one.
The second period belonged to penalties more than pucks—Kateřina Dvořáková and Zanele Ndaba fought at 5:01, and Sithole followed minutes later to The Sixth of her own accord—but Eliška Veselá still found the top shelf at 4:36, Krejčí returning the assist, and Prague took a 3-1 cushion to the third.
Lerato Dlamini and Tomáš Novák squared off early in the third, matching majors barely slowing Prague down. David Růžička made it 4-1 at 13:10—Tereza Horáková assisting—and Černý capped his two-goal night at 14:59, Polák picking up her second helper. Three fights, nine penalties, and a Prague side that simply outclassed a Johannesburg team that opened as the better price. Polák's two assists and Černý's brace were the story at The Stone Opera. Quel match d'ouverture.
MUM 2 — STO 3
Mumbai were the very slight home favorites at The Salt Pavilion—2.02 to Stockholm's 1.80—and this one needed a skills competition to settle. Saga Ekström put Stockholm ahead at 6:34, Oscar Söderström assisting, before Vikram Joshi answered for the Monsoons at 12:40 off Ananya Kulkarni's pass. Level after one.
Klara Åström put Stockholm back in front on the power play at 10:10, Ekström returning the favor, and that 1-2 scoreline held through a second period that was mostly whistles—fifteen penalties across the night, none of them producing more than that one goal.
Arjun Patil leveled it for Mumbai at 6:11 of the third, Divya Mehta assisting, and neither side found the winner across a chippy but goalless overtime. Fifteen hits, fifteen penalties, zero fights—a physical, disciplined game that simply refused to end in regulation. It came down to the shootout, and Elin Sjöberg buried the deciding attempt at 4:31 to send the extra point back to Sweden. Ekström and Åström both finished with a goal and an assist for the visitors; Joshi and Patil each managed a goal apiece in a losing effort for Mumbai.
WPG 4 — BUS 1
Busan arrived at The Cold Lodge as 1.78 road favorites, and Winnipeg didn't seem to notice. Marissa Spence opened it at 7:09, Jake Fehr assisting, and the Wendigos carried a 1-0 lead into the second—where they buried the game outright. Nicole Flett struck at 1:00, Dylan Fife assisting, and Curtis Favel made it 3-0 at 6:20 off the same Fife feed. Leah Blacksmith added a fourth at 8:48, Favel returning the favor—three goals inside eight minutes that ended any thought of a Busan upset before it could start.
The third was mostly hits and consequence-free penalties until Min-jun Lee and Nicole Flett dropped the gloves at 8:50, coincidental majors following. Hye-jin Choi got Busan on the board eight seconds later, Seung-ho Jung assisting, but the damage was long done.
Dylan Fife finished with two assists, Curtis Favel a goal and an assist, and Winnipeg turned a coin-flip game into a laugher against a side priced as the better team. Une victoire sans appel for the Wendigos at home.
RIM 1 — VLA 2
Vladivostok were the deserved 1.64 favorites at The Coastal Pavilion, and they did exactly what the board expected. Maxim Petrov opened the scoring at 10:13, Ruslan Kozlov assisting, and Yelena Pavlova doubled it at 12:45 off Igor Zaytsev's feed—two goals in under three minutes that had Rimini chasing the game from the first intermission on.
The second period was all penalties and no pucks—eleven minutes of man-advantages across both sides without a single goal to show for it, Chiara Ricci and Marco Rossetti doing the physical work to keep the crowd engaged.
Rimini finally broke through in the third, moments after Francesca Serra and Darya Kuznetsova had dropped the gloves at 5:20 for coincidental majors. Lorenzo Fabbri beat the goalie at 8:53, Matteo Galli assisting, to make it a one-goal game—as close as Rimini would get. Vladivostok managed the clock and the physical response well enough to protect the two points. Petrov and Pavlova, a goal apiece early, were the difference in a game decided in the opening twenty minutes and defended carefully for the final forty.
WEL 2 — NRB 3
Nairobi were the narrow 1.82 favorites over Wellington's 1.99 at The Howling Harbour, and the Narwhals needed a third-period surge to justify the number. Mereana Brooke opened the scoring for the Whales at 2:09, Kauri Thompson assisting, and that lead held through a heavily physical first period.
Amara Osei tied it for Nairobi at 12:06 of the second, Peter Kimani picking up the assist, setting up a third period that swung twice. Wanjiku Mwangi put Nairobi ahead at 2:08, Kimani again assisting, before Hemi Sullivan answered for Wellington at 4:22 off Olivia Rangi's feed to level it at 2-2. Nyambura Kamau settled it for good at 12:44, Moses Okello assisting, completing the Narwhals' comeback.
Dennis Wafula and Awhina Clarke had already dropped the gloves late in the second, matching majors sent to The Sixth, in a game that produced twenty-two hits across sixty minutes—the most physical night of the matchday. Peter Kimani's two assists quietly ran the Nairobi attack, and The Howling Harbour watched the lead change hands twice in the final period before the Narwhals closed it out.
USH 0 — CAI 1
Put this one at the top of the Matchday 29 upset list. Ushuaia were 1.45 favorites at The South Passage—about as heavy a home price as you'll see—and Cairo, out at 2.76, shut them out completely. Habiba Sherif scored the only goal of the game on the power play at 12:36 of the first period, Karim Fahmy assisting, and that was, remarkably, enough.
Nothing changed across the second period, both sides trading hits without finding the net—Ignacio Herrera, Mostafa Rashad, and Mariam Khalil all delivering clean, physical shifts in a scoreless twenty minutes.
The third brought the only real flashpoint: Nicolás Sosa and Farida Abdel-Rahman dropped the gloves at 4:17, matching majors following, and Mariam Khalil picked up a penalty of her own minutes later. But Cairo's defense held firm the rest of the way, and Ushuaia never found an answer for Sherif's early strike. A one-goal, one-fight, thirteen-hit road shutout from a team that had no business being a 2.76 underdog. C'est le genre de résultat qui fait mentir les cotes. Cairo's discipline, not their offense, won this one at The South Passage.
DKR 5 — GND 3
Dakar were the deserved 1.67 favorites at The Sandy Parlor, but Gander made them work for every point in an eight-goal, fight-free track meet. Cheikh Fall opened it for the Djinns at 6:18, Abdoulaye Touré assisting, and it looked routine—until Gander answered twice. Cyril Hynes scored the power play equalizer at 1:30 of the second, Janice Hapgood assisting, and Bridget Walsh put the Geese ahead at 13:18, and suddenly the visitors led 2-1 heading to the third.
Then Dakar took over completely. Ousmane Diallo tied it at 3:10, Mamadou Guèye assisting, before Liam Coish restored Gander's lead at 8:43—their last gasp. Rokhaya Faye put Dakar back in front on the power play at 9:53, Diallo returning the assist, Mariama Cissé made it 4-2 at 13:08 off Cheikh Fall's feed, and Modou Diouf capped a four-goal third period at 14:45, Ibrahima Sarr assisting, for the 5-3 final.
No fights, but eighteen hits and eight goals made this the highest-scoring, fastest-moving game of the matchday. Cheikh Fall finished with a goal, an assist, and three hits, driving Dakar's attack from both ends of the ice.
GDL 3 — ANC 2
Guadalajara were the expected 1.66 favorites at El Rincón Perdido, and it took overtime to get them there. Molly Kavairlook put Anchorage ahead at 9:04 of the first, Cody Tulik assisting, before Alejandra Ríos tied it for the Gatos at 3:55 of the second, Camila Flores assisting—right around the time Kira Naluktaq and Emilio Delgado dropped the gloves at 10:00, coincidental majors following.
The third period swapped leads twice. Santiago Torres put Guadalajara ahead twenty-six seconds in, Valentina Ramírez assisting, before Bryce Denison and Camila Flores fought at 2:22 and Heather Braund tied it for Anchorage at 9:35, Sierra Peters assisting. Level at two apiece after sixty minutes, and El Rincón Perdido needed extra time to settle it.
It didn't take long. Andrés Rojas scored the winner just 1:18 into overtime, Santiago Torres picking up his second assist of the night, and Guadalajara closed out the two points as the odds suggested they would—eventually. Two fights, fifteen hits, and a lead that changed hands three times before Rojas ended it. Torres's goal-and-assist night quietly directed the winning sequence both times Guadalajara found the net.
HAV 2 — MCM 3
Havana were 1.46 favorites at The Rhythm Bureau—about as safe a home price as the board offered all matchday—and McMurdo, out at 2.73, needed a shootout to complete one of the bigger upsets of the season. The first period went scoreless, Ingrid Solheim setting an early physical tone with hits on both Lázaro Valdés and Yordanis Sánchez.
Havana looked in control after the second: Lisandra Álvarez opened the scoring at 0:58, Yoandri Hernández assisting, and Osmany Leyva made it 2-0 on the power play at 4:41, Reinier Cruz assisting. But Natasha Borova pulled one back for McMurdo at 12:52, Solheim setting it up, and the door stayed open.
Solheim herself tied it on the power play at 0:41 of the third, Ji-hoon Baek assisting, and 2-2 held through a scoreless overtime. In the shootout, Borova calmly picked the corner at 9:31 to steal the extra point. Solheim finished with a goal, an assist, and three hits—the best player on the ice for either side—but it was Borova's shootout composure that turned a 1.46 favorite's home game into an away win. Le Rhythm Bureau a dansé, mais McMurdo a eu le dernier mot.
MTL 1 — TOK 4
Tokyo were the sensible 1.74 favorites at The Oldest Rink, and they made it look that way from the second period on. Shūta Tanaka opened the scoring at 12:30 of the first, Haruto Nakamura assisting, and the Titans carried a 1-0 lead into the middle frame—where they put it away. Kaito Itō struck nineteen seconds in, Riku Mori assisting, and Sakura Shimizu made it 3-0 on the power play at 5:37, Aoi Yamamoto assisting. Jean-François Tremblay got Montréal on the board at 8:42, Marc-Antoine Dufresne assisting, but it was already 1-3 heading to the third.
Sakura Shimizu and Sarah-Maude Fortin dropped the gloves at 6:56 of the second, offsetting majors following almost immediately after Shimizu's goal. Sōta Watanabe put the finishing touch on it at 13:12 of the third, Kaito Itō picking up his second assist of the night, for the 4-1 final.
Itō finished with a goal and two assists, the most complete individual performance of the matchday, and Tokyo's three-goal second period buried a Montréal side that never recovered from the opening minutes of the middle frame.
MDE 2 — PER 4
Medellín were 1.71 favorites at La Ladera, and Perth spent the first forty minutes making that number irrelevant. Cooper Hale opened it at 5:55, Callum Reeves assisting—right after Mateo Arango and Eliza Cartwright had dropped the gloves at 4:32—and Gemma Fletcher doubled the lead sixteen seconds later, Sienna Kapoor assisting. Perth carried a 2-0 lead into the second and extended it fast: Liam O'Brien scored on the power play at 1:51, Oscar Whitfield assisting, and Sienna Kapoor cashed her own power play chance at 13:21, Cooper Hale returning the assist, making it 4-0 Pyres through forty minutes.
Medellín finally responded in the third. Daniela Mejía got the home side on the board at 9:49, Mariana Zapata assisting, and Mateo Arango added a second at 11:24, Santiago Restrepo assisting, cutting the deficit to two—far too little, far too late.
Cooper Hale and Sienna Kapoor each finished with a goal and an assist, the engine behind a 4-0 lead that held up despite Medellín's late push. At 2.15 odds, Perth produced one of the cleanest road upsets of the matchday, needing only their first two periods to do it. La Ladera a vu ses favoris s'écrouler.
HEL 1 — SAO 0
Helsinki were the deserved 1.57 favorites at The Dark Sauna, and Jenni Laine's power play goal at 10:26 of the first period—Elina Heikkinen assisting—was all the offense either side would need. Anniina Tuominen, Gustavo Ribeiro, and Mariana Lima all took penalties in the opening frame, but only the Howlers cashed in.
The second period brought the game's physical peak. Liisa Nieminen and Rafael Oliveira fought at 2:43, coincidental majors following, in a period that otherwise stayed goalless despite hits from Mikko Hämäläinen, Isabela Costa, and Bruno Nascimento on both sides.
Aleksi Korhonen and Juliana Santos dropped the gloves early in the third, and São Paulo pressed for an equalizer that never arrived—Gustavo Ribeiro and Erik Johansson trading hits into the final minutes, Petteri Salonen picking up a late penalty, but the Serpents couldn't solve Helsinki's goaltending. A clean 1-0 shutout, two fights, and thirteen hits in a game that stayed true to the pre-game number throughout. Jenni Laine's early finish was the only goal The Dark Sauna needed all night.
Five upsets, two shootouts, and a night where Cairo and McMurdo both proved that heavy home favorites—1.45 and 1.46 respectively—are only numbers on a board once the puck drops. Perth's four-goal first forty in Medellín and Dakar's eight-goal track meet with Gander were the offensive highlights, but it's Ushuaia's shutout loss at home that will sting longest at The South Passage. C'est Hockay. À la prochaine.
—JM Laflèche, Voice of Hockay
Le Council acknowledges that Matchday 29 occurred. Ushuaia's home crowd at The South Passage has been credited with maximum patience despite receiving zero goals in return. The record has been updated accordingly.