Svensson Träff Blanks Leksand for Fifth Shutout

Brynäs 1 – Skellefteå 3

Brynäs is a team in the midst of a generation shift, and while their young players have shown potential, the squad has struggled to perform consistently. Gone is the veteran confidence and experience of players like Maja Nylén-Persson, Anna Meixner, Noemi Neubauerova, and Kaitlyn O’Donohoe, all of whom are in North America attempting to crack PWHL rosters. Long-time Danish national team stalwart Josefine Jakobsen has the potential to be a point-per-game player on the back end, but has not played a minute this season due to injury. Former University of Vermont captain Sini Karjalainen departed for Skellefteå in the off season, while forwards Mimmi Gill and Malia Schneider signed with SDE. The team announced the re-signing of PWHL veteran forward Fanni Garat-Gasparics two weeks ago, and she should bring some much needed offense, but has yet to make her season debut.

Sunday’s opponents Skellefteå, on the other hand, are a team that exudes confidence. GM Ulrika Dahlgren has only managed to strengthen the roster that won promotion from the NDHL last season, adding imports Mikayla Lantto (Long Island University, NCAA), Camryn Drever (University of Saskatchewan, USports), Karjalainen, Aino Karppinen (from Leksand) and Marah Wagner (RPI, NCAA), among others. Head coach Martin Lindh has the team playing with a swagger and pace that has allowed them to shock top teams like MoDo and Frölunda this season.

Brynäs’ inexperience was on full display Sunday as Skellefteå got out to a first period lead. Brynäs goalie Ena Nystrøm made an initial save, but Jenna Pirttijärvi was allowed to drive the net unimpeded and the rebound bounced in off her skate. In the second frame, Lantto, left inexplicably alone in the slot as all five Brynäs defenders watched the puck, scored to make it 2-0 on a feed from Wagner below the goal line. As the buzzer sounded to end the second period, a row of dejected-looking Brynäs players sat on the bench, appearing for all the world like a team that had already lost a hockey game. Late in the third period, Brynäs finally got on the board when Sara Cajanova fired a puck through traffic from the point. The goal proved to be too little, too late, as Skellefteå added an empty netter to take the 3-1 win. The victory was Skellefteå’s second of the weekend, and gave them five important points in the standings.

Leksand 0 – Linköping 1

This was a matchup between two of the league’s most anaemic offenses. Linköping’s offensive production took a massive blow with the loss of forward Haruka Toko to injury prior to the international break. Toko was not only the team’s leading scorer, but also a dynamic, shifty player who forced opposing defenses to take notice, creating more time and space for her teammates. In her absence, Canadian forward Ann-Frédérique Guay has finally begun to heat up, scoring three points in her last four games. Sunday’s opponent Leksand was coming off a big 4-1 win over Djurgården on Friday that saw forwards Saga Tynell-Nissas and Hilda Ljungberg each tally two goals. Goalie Emma Polusny was also hoping to stay hot after stopping 31 of 32 shots against DIF.

Linköping’s Lova Blom opened the scoring in the first period, converting a Felicia Levin feed past Polusny 13 minutes in. The point, her twelfth of the season, made Blom Linköping’s leading scorer. That was all of the offense this game would produce. Linköping certainly tried, and pumped 18 shots on Polusny in the second period alone, but simply could not find more twine. Leksand had their chances too, and spent nearly seven minutes on the power play, but could not solve LHC’s Ebba Svensson Träff. If the world was a fair place, Svensson Träff would get more goal support. She has been stellar all season, with a .944 save percentage and 1.90 goals against average in 14 starts, but her team simply does not score enough goals to consistently beat the best teams. This evening, at least, their one goal was good enough to take home the win and for Svensson Träff to pocket her fifth shutout of the season.

SDE 1 – Djurgården 2

In an important matchup between two teams on the rise, fans endured a rather muted first period. SDE had their chances but could not convert past DIF goalie Ida Boman. The second period began with more SDE possession but little in the way of real threat. Djurgården, for their part, played a patient game of sound defense and quick counter attacks that produced the best scoring chances of the period. DIF’s young Czech forward Tereza Pistekova stood out, as her quick transitions and masterful puck possession created a number of solid opportunities. It was teammate Isabelle Leijonhielm, however, who finally solved SDE’s Kassidy Sauvé, scoring on a rebound after a brilliant wraparound attempt by the ever tenacious Brette Pettet. Minutes later, on the power play, SDE responded. From a battle in the left corner of the offensive zone, the puck found its way to Julie Zwarthoed, parked in the slot bumper position. She made no mistake, snapping the puck past Boman to tie the game at one apiece.

A third period DIF power play produced some of the best offensive chances of the evening, and resulted in the go ahead goal when big Leijonhielm, notched her second of the evening, as she weaved a shot through a sea of SDE defenders. The goal came at the end of a long period of possession that trapped the exhausted SDE defenders, unable to clear the puck, in their own zone. The final ten minutes of play were high paced and exciting as a desperate SDE squad threw a series of thundering body checks in an attempt to regain and retain puck possession. SDE’s worst enemy was themselves, and possibly their lack of a plan on zone entries. Time and time again, SDE would cross the offensive blue line with numbers, only to send a poorly aimed drop pass to a trailing player with no time or space to continue the attack. SDE pulled Sauvé for an extra attacker with 2:14 remaining, but Djurgården and Boman stood tall, stopping everything that came at them to seal the victory. With the win, DIF leapfrogged into fourth place in the standings.