Matchday Recap: S02D40
Six upsets on Matchday 40, mes amis, and if that doesn't tell you the league is entering its unpredictable stretch, nothing will. Natasha Borova needed overtime to settle Montréal and McMurdo at The Oldest Rink, burying the winner 4:42 into the extra frame. Valentina Ospina hat-tricked Medellín past Havana, Nairobi ran up seven goals on Gander with an assist from somewhere stranger than the scoresheet usually allows, and Busan and Anchorage combined for eight fights at The Frozen Dock in a night that had little to do with the final score. Allons-y, there's a lot of ice to cover.
MDE 6 — HAV 1
Medellín and Havana were dead even in the odds at La Ladera, 1.90 apiece, and Medellín made the coin flip look absurd. Valentina Ospina opened the scoring at 4:32, Santiago Restrepo assisting, and Mariana Zapata doubled it on the power play at 11:01, Camilo Henao feeding her. Ospina struck again moments later—11:08, Nicolás Betancur assisting—and Medellín carried a 3-0 lead into the first intermission. Yoandri Hernández and Santiago Restrepo dropped the gloves at 9:45 of the second, coincidental majors, right as Medellín kept pouring it on.
Ospina completed her hat trick forty-five seconds into the second period, Mateo Arango assisting, making it 4-0 before Havana finally got on the board. Juan Esteban Ramírez restored order for Medellín at 10:24, Andrés Quintero assisting, but Havana answered immediately on the power play—Yordanis Sánchez at 10:34, Claudia Pérez assisting, their only goal of the night. Nicolás Betancur, who'd already set up one of Ospina's goals, capped the rout himself at 14:50, Daniela Mejía assisting, for the 6-1 final. Ospina's three goals were the headline, but Betancur's goal-and-an-assist line quietly did as much damage.
NRB 7 — GND 1
Nairobi were the 1.63 favorites at The Ochre Reserve and left no doubt, running Gander off the ice from the opening shift. Wanjiku Mwangi opened it fourteen seconds in, James Odhiambo assisting, and Cyril Hynes briefly pulled Gander level at 8:56, Liam Coish assisting. Faith Wanjiru restored the lead at 14:38, Zawadi Mutua assisting, and Nairobi took a 2-1 edge into the second—modest, compared to what came next.
The second period was a formality. Peter Kimani scored at 4:27, Kevin Otieno assisting, Moses Okello made it 4-1 at 5:15, Brian Kipchoge assisting, and Zawadi Mutua added a fifth at 6:00, Kimani returning the assist. Then, thirty seconds later, something only Hockay could produce: Okello's goal echoed back on its own, the scoreboard crediting Nairobi a sixth without anyone touching the puck again. Samuel Njoroge closed out the middle frame at 10:59, Mutua assisting again, for a 7-1 scoreline that held the rest of the way. Trina Pickett and Kevin Otieno fought late in the third, the only real spark left in a game decided by the second intermission. Mutua finished with a goal and two assists, but the story at The Ochre Reserve was Gander getting buried—twice, in Okello's case, by the same shot.
WEL 1 — USH 4
Wellington were the home favorites at 1.79 and Ushuaia the road underdogs at 2.03, and for twenty minutes The Howling Harbour had reason to believe the odds. Facundo Álvarez opened it for Ushuaia at 1:08, Matías Fernández assisting, but Kauri Thompson answered forty-two seconds later, Nikau Edwards assisting, and it was 1-1 after one. Charlotte Hemi and Nicolás Sosa dropped the gloves early in the second before Matías Fernández put Ushuaia back in front at 3:04, Julieta Ríos assisting.
That lead held, and the third period buried Wellington entirely. Florencia Ramos made it 1-3 at 6:26, Tomás Peralta assisting, and Luciana Romero cashed in on the power play at 8:08, Ramos returning the favor, to make it 1-4. Julieta Ríos and Mereana Brooke fought late to close out a physical night. At 2.03 odds, this was the upset of the early slate—Ushuaia's four different goalscorers did what Wellington, the favorites, couldn't manage even once after the opening minute.
BUS 4 — ANC 1
Busan and Anchorage were essentially a coin flip at 1.90 and 1.91, and The Frozen Dock turned into a brawl before it turned into a hockey game—five fights inside the first period alone. Soo-yeon Park and Molly Kavairlook dropped the gloves twenty-eight seconds in, Bryce Denison and Tae-hyun Lim followed at 2:23, and by the time Yuna Kang opened the scoring at 4:59, Sang-hoon Bae assisting, the building had already seen four fighting majors. Kira Naluktaq tied it for Anchorage at 6:55, Carlos Medina assisting, and Sang-hoon Bae and Kira Naluktaq themselves dropped the gloves at 10:22, followed by two more fighting majors before the period was through.
The second period was quieter on the scoreboard—1-1 held—but Tara Alexie and So-hee Hwang dropped the gloves, the first of two bouts between them on an increasingly personal night. Busan pulled away in the third: Tae-hyun Lim scored at 9:28, Hyun-woo Kwon assisting, Hye-jin Choi made it 3-1 at 11:39, Yuna Kang assisting, and Lim added his second at 12:00, Kwon assisting again, for the 4-1 final. Eight fights, twenty-four hits, twelve penalties—Busan won comfortably, but nobody at The Frozen Dock will remember this one for the scoreline.
JBG 3 — VLA 1
Vladivostok were the 1.76 favorites at Die Goue Myn, and for a scoreless, hit-heavy first period—nine hits, two fights, no goals—they looked like they'd earn it. Lerato Dlamini and Tatiana Novikova fought at 7:38, Nomsa Mahlangu and Vera Orlova followed at 9:32, and the teams traded bodies without troubling the scoreboard. Denis Baranov finally broke through on the power play at 4:08 of the second, Darya Kuznetsova assisting, but Pieter Botha tied it for Johannesburg at 14:59, Thandiwe Radebe assisting, sending it to the third level.
The third period belonged to Johannesburg. Pieter Botha and Darya Kuznetsova fought at 2:28, and moments later Thabo Mokoena put the home side ahead at 8:14, Lindiwe Sithole assisting. Botha capped his own night at 10:28, Mokoena returning the assist, for the 3-1 final. At 2.08 odds, Johannesburg's upset was built on a punishing, even game that broke their way only in the final frame—Botha's two goals and a fight made him the story at Die Goue Myn.
TOK 4 — RIM 1
Tokyo were the 1.75 favorites at The Neon Crossing and delivered in straightforward fashion. Kaito Itō opened the scoring on the power play at 8:09, Hina Takahashi assisting, and that lead held into the second, where Marco Rossetti pulled Rimini level at 4:20, Giulia Bianchi assisting, for a 1-1 game heading to the third.
Tokyo's depth told from there. Sakura Shimizu restored the lead at 2:47, Yūma Hayashi assisting, and Shūta Tanaka and Nico De Luca fought moments later before Tanaka himself scored at 11:07, Haruto Nakamura assisting. Yūma Hayashi closed it out at 14:51, Yuki Sato assisting, for the 4-1 final. Hayashi finished with a goal and an assist, Shimizu added three hits to her scoring touch, and Rimini—the modest underdogs at 2.08—never found a second gear after tying it in the second.
HEL 3 — GDL 1
Guadalajara were the 1.79 favorites at The Dark Sauna; Helsinki, the home underdogs at 2.03, had other ideas. Camila Flores opened it for Guadalajara at 10:44, Mateo Guzmán assisting, but Saara Virtanen answered ninety-two seconds later, Aleksi Korhonen assisting, and it was 1-1 after one. The second period stayed level on the scoreboard but not on the ice—Andrés Rojas and Noora Koskinen fought at 10:12, and Daniela Salazar and Elina Heikkinen followed at 13:31.
Saku Järvinen opened the scoring in the third at 1:29, Juhani Rantanen assisting, moments after Mikko Hämäläinen and Santiago Torres dropped the gloves. Anniina Tuominen made it 3-1 at 7:30, Noora Koskinen assisting, and that was the final. At 2.03 odds, this was Helsinki's day to spoil the form chalk—Järvinen's goal and Tuominen's insurance marker did the rest at The Dark Sauna.
MTL 4 — MCM 5
The Oldest Rink got the game of the matchday, and it took overtime to settle it. Catherine Lavoie opened the scoring for Montréal on the power play at 2:27, Philippe Dubois assisting, and Jean-François Tremblay made it 2-0 at 4:55, Chloé Moreau assisting, before Priya Anand got McMurdo on the board at 13:41, Tobias Frey assisting, to make it 2-1 after one. Ingrid Solheim tied it for McMurdo thirty-nine seconds into the second, Yumi Takeda assisting, before Tremblay restored Montréal's lead on the power play at 14:59, Élodie Gagnon assisting, for a 3-2 game after forty.
The third period was pure chaos. Chris Elliot tied it for McMurdo at 2:49, Ji-hoon Baek assisting, Philippe Dubois answered for Montréal at 3:32, Alexandre Paquette assisting, and Ingrid Solheim buried the power-play equalizer at 6:22, Baek assisting again, to send it to overtime tied 4-4. Natasha Borova ended it 4:42 into the extra period, Elena Varga assisting, for the 4-5 McMurdo win. Jean-François Tremblay and Ingrid Solheim each finished with two goals, but it was Borova's overtime strike that The Oldest Rink will remember. Quel match.
SAO 1 — STO 3
São Paulo were the 1.74 favorites at The Green Canopy, and Stockholm made them pay for it. The first period was quiet on the scoreboard—Filip Nyström and Felipe Carvalho fought late—but the second belonged to the visitors. Rafael Oliveira opened it for São Paulo at 2:46, Gustavo Ribeiro assisting, but Astrid Engström tied it right back at 4:36, Hugo Wikström assisting, and Freja Sandström put Stockholm ahead at 6:50, Albin Nordlund assisting, for a 1-2 game after forty.
Lucas Bredberg extended it in the third at 3:34, Wikström picking up his second assist of the night, and that was enough for the 1-3 final. At 2.11 odds, Stockholm's road upset was built on a two-goal middle period São Paulo couldn't answer—Wikström's two assists and Sandström's goal-and-hit night were the difference at The Green Canopy.
WPG 6 — DKR 5
The Cold Lodge produced eleven goals and one of the wilder finishes of the matchday. Rokhaya Faye opened it for Dakar at 13:31, Moussa Ndiaye assisting, and Brody Flett answered on the power play eighty-two seconds later, Tyler Chicken assisting, for a 1-1 game after one. Tara Ridsdale put Winnipeg ahead in the second, 11:54, Curtis Favel assisting, and that 2-1 score held into a third period that turned into an all-out track meet.
Eight goals in twenty minutes: Modou Diouf tied it for Dakar at 2:18, Cheikh Fall assisting; Tyler Chicken restored Winnipeg's lead at 7:20, Kaya Bearclaw assisting; Dylan Fife made it 4-2 at 8:19, Leah Blacksmith assisting; Moussa Ndiaye pulled Dakar within one at 8:54, Khady Bâ assisting; Leah Blacksmith scored herself at 9:32, Brody Flett assisting; Jonas Brevik made it 6-3 at 11:22, Ridsdale assisting; and Mamadou Guèye and Modou Diouf answered twice more for Dakar, at 12:23 and 14:38, Khady Bâ and Mariama Cissé assisting respectively. Winnipeg held on 6-5, the home underdogs at 1.97 doing just enough to hold off a Dakar side that came in favored at 1.85. Diouf's two goals kept Dakar in it right to the horn.
PER 4 — CAI 3
Perth were the 1.67 favorites at The Red Furnace and needed every bit of the tag in a game that produced five fights. Layla Mostafa opened it for Cairo at 0:26, Khaled Naguib assisting, before Tahlia Nguyen and Mostafa Rashad fought, followed quickly by Sienna Kapoor and Omar Hassan. Zara Patel tied it for Perth at 10:30, Cooper Hale assisting, but Mariam Khalil restored Cairo's lead at 11:27, Ahmed Zaki assisting, and Farida Abdel-Rahman and Jack Mitchell fought to close out a chippy first period, 1-2.
Callum Reeves tied it for Perth in the second, 3:01, Oscar Whitfield assisting, before Layla Mostafa and Eliza Cartwright fought late in the frame to keep it level, 2-2, after forty. The third period turned Perth's way: Youssef Mansour restored Cairo's lead at 6:58, Mostafa Rashad assisting, but Gemma Fletcher answered on the power play at 7:53, Nate Hargrove assisting, and completed the comeback at 14:03, Zara Patel assisting, for the 4-3 final. Fletcher's two third-period goals were the difference, and the form held at The Red Furnace, if barely.
PRA 1 — MUM 2
Prague were the modest 1.84 favorites at The Stone Opera, and for most of the night they looked the part. Jakub Černý opened the scoring at 2:54, Lucie Šťastná assisting, and that lead held through a scoreless second period, though Markéta Polák and Divya Mehta fought at 12:28 to liven things up.
Mumbai found their answer in the third. Vikram Joshi tied it at 2:37, Kiran Bhatt assisting, and Rahul Nair and Ondřej Marek fought twice more before the period was through. Priya Sharma scored the winner late, 14:28, Rohan Deshmukh assisting, and Mumbai held on for the 1-2 upset at 1.98 odds—the away side's only lead of the night arriving exactly when it mattered.
Six upsets, an overtime winner in Montréal, and a goal in Nairobi that happened twice—Matchday 40 didn't want for storylines. C'est Hockay. À la prochaine.
—JM Laflèche, Voice of Hockay
Le Council acknowledges that Matchday 40 occurred. One goal recorded at The Ochre Reserve was tallied twice by mechanisms Le Permanent Council declines to elaborate on. The record has been updated accordingly.