The SDHL opened their 2024-2025 season with several PWHL draft picks in the mix Luleå opening with a pair of wins, and Skellefteå earning their first win at the SDHL level.
The SDHL's season opening weekend is in the books. Skellefteå earned their first win in the SDHL, and last year's champion Luleå won both of their games. Here's a look at the action.
Sunday, September 15
Frölunda 5 - Brynäs 3 — Mental lapses cost Brynäs early and often, as they allowed a dynamic and potent Frölunda to score in the first minute of each period. Twice, the scorer was Michelle Karvinen, still one of the world’s best offensive players. Left alone in front of the net, the 34-year-old Karvinen was ruthless, burying her chances each time for her first two goals of the season. Brynäs pushed back in the second period, knotting the score at 2-2 on a Kaitlyn O’Donohoe one-timer, but Frölunda largely dominated from there on out, eventually winning 5-3.
Linköping 1 - Luleå 5 — Linköping’s penalty troubles proved costly as Luleå went 60% on the powerplay en route to a 5-1 victory. Canadian Jaycee Magwood recorded three assists for the victors, bringing her early season point total to four. Linköping’s Ebba Svensson Träff stopped 51 shots in the loss, keeping the score closer than it should have been as Luleå dominated both possession and scoring chances.
Leksand 4 - SDE 1 — Kiira Yrjänen scored on a breakaway in the third period to seal the win for Leksand, which spent much of the game’s final frame hemmed into their own zone by a hungry SDE. Time and time again, SDE pressured the Leksand goal, and time and time again netminder Emma Polusny turned them away. Yrjänen got her break in the game’s 52nd minute, when an SDE stumble sent her in alone and she scored to give her team a perhaps undeserved 3-1 lead. It was Yrjänen’s third point of the night and Leksand earned their first win of the season.
Djurgården 1 - Skellefteå 2 — Skellefteå earned their first-ever SDHL win thanks to a pair of second period goals from Ida Kuoppala and Nicoline Søndergaard Jensen. Homegrown goalkeeper Miranda Dahlgren made several big stops before eventually allowing DIF’s Selma Tyreskog to score halfway through the final period. Dahlgren and her teammates held on the rest of the way, celebrating their victory loudly with the final buzzer.
Saturday, September 14
HV71 2 - MoDo 4 - Playing in Jönköping, MoDo came out on top on the strength of a pair of Emma Seitz goals. Despite spending nearly seven minutes on the powerplay, HV71 was unable to convert and dropped its second game in as many days.
Check out Friday's scores and recaps here: