Matchday Recap: S02D46
Forty-six matchdays, and the regular season saved its strangest trick for last: every single game on the schedule needed extra time. Twelve games, twelve trips to overtime, five of them all the way to the shootout—Le Permanent Council will have questions, and JM does too, but the answers can wait. Wellington played its way into the record book in its first night at The Howling Harbour, Gander shocked a heavily-favored Helsinki side, and São Paulo stole one from Nairobi that the odds never saw coming. Sit back—we have twelve games to get through, and every one of them earned the extra hockey. C'est du sérieux.
MTL 4 — BUS 3
At The Oldest Rink, Montréal needed extra time to hold serve as home favorites, and Busan made them work for every inch of it. Lucas Pelletier opened the scoring at 7:20 of the first, Jean-René Bergeron assisting, before Sarah-Maude Fortin and Sang-hoon Bae dropped the gloves late in the period and both headed to The Sixth on matching majors. Busan came out swinging in the second—Eun-bi Han tied it 1:54 in, and Seung-ho Jung put the visitors ahead at 9:11, off feeds from Soo-yeon Park and Yuna Kang—before Marc-Antoine Dufresne and Philippe Dubois answered in quick succession, the latter finishing a Catherine Lavoie feed, to send Montréal into the third up 3-2. Min-jun Lee and Jean-René Bergeron found time for a fight of their own in between, another pair off to The Sixth.
Eun-bi Han tied it again at 10:17 of the third, her second of the night, assisted by Kang, and neither side could find a winner in regulation. It took overtime for Sarah-Maude Fortin—fresh off her own Sixth trip—to settle it, finishing a feed from Alexandre Paquette at 6:28 for the 4-3 final. Twenty-one hits and two fights made for a physical night, and at 1.8 odds, Montréal's favorite tag held, if only barely.
DKR 3 — GDL 4
Dakar and Guadalajara needed the full allotment of extra hockey at The Sandy Parlor, and it was the Gatos who escaped with two points as modest road favorites. Diego Hernández opened it on the power play at 2:32, Andrés Rojas assisting, and Daniela Salazar doubled the lead just 42 seconds later, Mateo Guzmán feeding her, to make it 0-2 after one. A second period without a goal turned physical instead—Rodrigo Vargas and Abdoulaye Touré dropped the gloves, and Touré later squared off again with Santiago Torres, sending four players through The Sixth before the period was through.
Dakar erased the deficit in the third. Modou Diouf scored on the power play at 1:09, Rokhaya Faye assisting, to cut it to 1-2, but Carlos Morales restored Guadalajara's two-goal cushion at 4:19 off a second Rojas assist. Moussa Ndiaye pulled the Djinns back within one at 10:08, and Aminata Sow completed the comeback at 14:59, Mamadou Guèye picking up the helper, tying it 3-3 after a stunning three-goal push. Neither side found the extra-frame winner, and it went to a shootout—Emilio Delgado calmly beat the goaltender to make it 3-4 final. Sixteen hits, eight penalties, and two fights along the way, and Guadalajara's 1.73 odds held up, even if Dakar made them work for every second of it.
SAO 3 — NRB 2
São Paulo were the modest home underdogs at The Green Canopy—1.99 to 1.82—and pulled off the biggest surprise of the early slate against Nairobi. Camila Ferreira and Nyambura Kamau dropped the gloves early and both served time in The Sixth, Ferreira returning with Heavy clinging to her, before Felipe Carvalho broke the deadlock at 12:14, Larissa Souza assisting, to make it 1-0 after a physical opening period. The second passed scoreless despite another fight—Amanda Barbosa and James Odhiambo traded blows and both sat out—as both sides cycled through penalties and Sixth trips without denting the scoreboard.
Lucas Almeida doubled São Paulo's lead just sixteen seconds into the third, Isabela Costa assisting, before Amara Osei answered on the power play, James Odhiambo picking up his first assist of the night, and Faith Wanjiru tied it at 2-2 late in the period, Odhiambo again the helper. But Gabriel Rodrigues delivered in overtime, finishing another Larissa Souza feed at 9:42 for the 3-2 winner. Sixteen hits and two fights made it a scrappy affair throughout, and at 1.82 odds, Nairobi were the favorites walking in—instead it was São Paulo's depth scoring, three different goalscorers to Nairobi's two, that stole it in the extra frame.
WPG 3 — ANC 2
Winnipeg were the clear home favorites at The Cold Lodge—1.69 to 2.19—and needed everything they had to prove it against Anchorage. A scoreless, physical first period saw Kira Naluktaq head to The Sixth on a penalty and return with Doubled clinging to her, a sign of things to come. Anchorage struck twice early in the second—Levi Simmonds off a Paige Riordan feed, then Naluktaq herself at 7:23, Carlos Medina assisting—before Anna Flett got the home side on the board at 9:17, Kaya Bearclaw picking up the helper, trailing 1-2 after forty. Naluktaq and Tara Ridsdale dropped the gloves late in the period for good measure, both to The Sixth on offsetting majors.
Tyler Chicken tied it for Winnipeg at 4:16 of the third, Bearclaw again the setup man, in a period that also saw Marissa Spence and Bryce Denison fight to a standstill. Neither side broke through again until overtime, when Spence buried it at 14:19, Dylan Fife assisting, to complete the comeback and send Winnipeg home 3-2 winners. Nineteen hits and two fights across the sixty-five minutes, and at 1.69 odds, the home crowd at The Cold Lodge got exactly the result they expected—eventually.
JBG 2 — PER 3
Perth were the modest road favorites at Die Goue Myn—1.82 to 1.99—and needed overtime to cash in on it against Johannesburg. A scoreless first period gave way to a power-play parade in the second: Cooper Hale opened it for Perth at 1:08, Oscar Whitfield assisting, before Thandiwe Radebe answered right back for the Jaguars, Nomsa Mahlangu picking up the helper, and Naledi Khumalo put Johannesburg ahead late in the period, Thabo Mokoena assisting, on the home side's third power-play goal of the night. It was 2-1 Johannesburg after forty, in a period that sent five different players through The Sixth.
Jack Mitchell tied it for Perth at 6:01 of the third, Eliza Cartwright assisting, in a period that also produced two fights—Cooper Hale with Mandla Zulu, and Zanele Ndaba with Gemma Fletcher, both pairs taking coincidental majors. Neither side found a winner in regulation, but Nate Hargrove settled it in overtime at 2:48, Mitchell returning the assist, stealing it 2-3 for the visitors. Fourteen hits and two fights made for a scrappy night, and at 1.82 odds, Perth's favorite tag held up on the road.
USH 4 — MUM 3
Ushuaia and Mumbai played close to a coin flip at The South Passage—1.89 to 1.92—and needed the extra frames to settle it. Julieta Ríos opened the scoring for the home side at 5:53, Agustín Medina assisting, and Matías Fernández doubled it late in the period off a second Medina feed, making it 2-0 after twenty minutes. Mumbai answered in the second: Ananya Kulkarni pulled one back on a Meera Naik assist, and Rahul Nair tied it outright at 12:13, Priya Sharma assisting, after Kiran Bhatt and Camila Aguirre traded fists and both served time in The Sixth.
Santiago Figueroa restored Ushuaia's lead early in the third, Florencia Ramos assisting, only for Bhatt to answer again at 8:47, Arjun Patil picking up the helper, making it 3-3 heading to the extra frame. Neither side broke through in overtime, and it went to a shootout—Tomás Peralta calmly beat the goaltender to make it 4-3 final. Just nine hits marked one of the cleaner games of the night, though five penalties kept both benches shuffling through The Sixth. At 1.89 odds, Ushuaia's home ice made the difference in the end.
MDE 2 — VLA 1
Medellín's first appearance in the playoff-picture conversation came at La Ladera, where the home Mapaches held on as modest favorites against Vladivostok—1.8 to 2.03—through a defensive, penalty-heavy affair. A scoreless first period sent four players through The Sixth, including Nikita Sorokin and Mateo Arango after a center-ice fight, before Kirill Morozov broke through for Vladivostok at 9:53 of the second, Yelena Pavlova assisting. Camilo Henao and Tatiana Novikova traded punches late in the period, both taking coincidental majors, and the visitors carried a 0-1 lead into the third.
Luciana Vélez tied it for Medellín on the power play at 12:19, Valentina Ospina assisting, in a third period that cycled six different players through The Sixth without further denting the scoreboard. Neither side found a winner in a quiet overtime, and it went to a shootout—Mateo Arango, who'd fought his way there in the first period, delivered the winner to make it 2-1 final. Twenty hits and twelve penalties made this the most whistle-heavy game of the night, and Medellín's 1.8 odds held up in their newest home building.
HEL 1 — GND 2
Helsinki were heavy home favorites at The Dark Sauna—1.64 to 2.27—and Gander made them pay for it. Elina Heikkinen opened the scoring at 8:01, Erik Johansson assisting, for what looked like a comfortable home lead, though Liam Coish and Saara Virtanen closed the period with a fight, both taking majors on the way to The Sixth. A second period without a goal saw both benches trade penalties and modifiers, Helsinki still clinging to the 1-0 edge after forty.
Gander finally broke through in the third—Brian Mercer beat the goaltender at 14:58, Vera Tobin assisting, in a period that also saw Erik Johansson and Gus Maloney fight to a standstill—sending it to overtime tied 1-1. Bridget Walsh delivered the shocker, finishing a Calvin Roebothan feed at 14:30 of the extra frame to steal it 1-2 for the visitors. Fifteen hits and two fights made for a tense night, and at 2.27 odds against them, Gander pulled off the biggest upset of Matchday 46 on the road.
WEL 6 — STO 5
Wellington's first night at their brand-new Howling Harbour came with fireworks—an eleven-goal shootout thriller against Stockholm that the Whales somehow stole as modest home underdogs, 1.93 to 1.88. Kauri Thompson opened the scoring at 6:19, Awhina Clarke assisting, before Stockholm answered with three straight—Saga Ekström, Hugo Wikström, and Axel Lindqvist, the last two off feeds from Oscar Söderström and Freja Sandström—to lead 1-3 after a period that also saw Lindqvist and Hemi Sullivan fight to a draw. Wellington clawed back in the second, Aroha Ngata and Clarke both scoring to level it 3-3 after forty.
The third period alone produced four goals. Sandström restored Stockholm's lead, Sullivan tied it right back, Nikau Edwards put Wellington ahead, and Klara Åström forced overtime at 5-5 in the final minutes. Neither side found a winner in the extra frame—Thompson and Söderström even found time for one more fight—and it went to a shootout, where Aroha Ngata delivered the winner to make it 6-5. Eighteen hits, three fights, and eleven goals made this the wildest game of Matchday 46, and Wellington's home crowd got the perfect christening for The Howling Harbour.
PRA 2 — CAI 1
Prague were the home favorites at The Stone Opera—1.81 to 2.01—against a Cairo side making its first appearance there, and needed overtime to make it stand up. Habiba Sherif opened the scoring for the Crocodiles at 8:54, Farida Abdel-Rahman assisting, before Pavel Krejčí and Omar Hassan dropped the gloves late in the period, the first of two fights between them on the night. Tomáš Novák tied it for Prague at 12:48 of the second, Kateřina Dvořáková assisting, and a scoreless third—punctuated by a Krejčí-Hassan rematch—sent it to the extra frame level at 1-1.
David Růžička settled it in overtime, finishing a Markéta Polák feed at 4:20 for the 2-1 final. Nine hits and four penalties made this one of the quieter, tighter games of the matchday, and at 1.81 odds, Prague's home ice carried them through—though Cairo, in just their first look at The Stone Opera, gave the home crowd more than a few nervous moments.
HAV 3 — RIM 4
Havana and Rimini traded chances all night at The Rhythm Bureau before Rimini escaped as the modest 1.86 favorites. Yarelys González opened it for the home side at 10:51, Adonis Reyes assisting, and Alessandro Conti answered right back for Rimini, Francesca Serra assisting, before Reinier Cruz restored Havana's lead late in the period off a González assist, making it 2-1 after twenty minutes. Rimini leveled it again early in the second—Luca Ferretti off a Marco Rossetti feed—only for Claudia Pérez to put Havana back in front, Yordanis Sánchez assisting, and it was 3-2 Havana after forty.
Elena Moretti tied it for Rimini at 10:07 of the third, Chiara Ricci assisting, in a period that also saw Giulia Bianchi and Yanelis Peña fight to a standstill, sending it to overtime at 3-3. Neither side found the winner in the extra frame, and it went to a shootout—Moretti, who'd tied it in regulation, delivered the winner to make it 3-4 final. Seventeen hits and a single fight kept The Rhythm Bureau lively, and Rimini's 1.86 odds held up on the road.
TOK 2 — MCM 3
Tokyo carried a two-goal lead into the second period against McMurdo at The Neon Crossing before the visitors clawed all the way back and stole it in overtime. Hina Takahashi opened the scoring on the power play at 7:47, Kaito Itō assisting, and Ren Inoue doubled it on another man advantage early in the second, Aoi Yamamoto feeding him, making it 2-0. McMurdo answered twice in quick succession—Natasha Borova on the power play, Ingrid Solheim assisting, and Sven Lindberg at 8:00, Chris Elliot picking up the helper—to level it 2-2 after forty minutes of a game with no shortage of penalties and Sixth trips on both sides.
A scoreless third, despite twenty combined hits, sent it to overtime still tied. Tobias Frey delivered the winner at 14:38, Kofi Mensah assisting, stealing it 2-3 for McMurdo. Twenty hits and eleven penalties made for a chippy, whistle-heavy night without a single fight—a rarity for Matchday 46—and at 1.87 odds, McMurdo's modest favorite tag held up after erasing an early two-goal deficit.
Twelve games, twelve overtimes, five shootouts—Le Permanent Council has never seen a matchday quite like it, and neither has JM, all these years behind the microphone. Wellington christened The Howling Harbour with an eleven-goal escape act, Gander stunned a heavily-favored Helsinki, and São Paulo snuck past Nairobi in a game the odds never saw coming. That's the regular season, mesdames et messieurs—forty-six matchdays, and it went out exactly as strange as it should have. The bracket sorts itself out from here. À la prochaine.
—JM Laflèche, Voice of Hockay
Le Council notes that all twelve games contested on Matchday 46 required overtime, a frequency without precedent in the regular season record. Le Council has no explanation. Le Council is looking into it.