Nieminen scores two in SDHL's first game since break; Bizal, Norcross, Bujold make Swedish debuts
In the first SDHL game since the international break, Luleå defeated SDE in Stockholm by a score of 4-2.
Fans of both teams waited for the opening faceoff with bated breath, as this game would be their first look at recent import signings Savannah Norcross and Sarah Bujold (Luleå) and Madison Bizal (SDE). All three players were penciled in to their respective line ups with world class linemates: Bizal paired with fellow PWHL veteran Dominique Kremer, while Sarah Bujold slotted in as the center between Luleå stars Viivi Vainikka and Akane Shiga. Norcross, for her part, got to take her first strides in the SDHL with a quartet of Olympians in Petra Nieminen, Emma Nordin, Jenni Hiirikoski and Johanna Fällman, and did not look out of place.
Luleå got on the board first, barely three minutes into the game, when Akane Shiga deftly tipped a Nadia Mattivi point shot and beat SDE goalie Kassidy Sauvé five-hole. Two minutes later, Norcross earned her first point in the Swedish league when, playing shorthanded, she forced a turnover and shovelled the puck forward to a streaking Nieminen who took off on a breakaway. Nieminen shot, collected her own rebound and scored to make it 2-0 early. Luleå took three more penalties before the end of the period, but SDE could not convert.
Early in the second period, Luleå’s lead grew to three when Wilma Sjölund scored her second of the season after a broken play in SDE’s slot. The puck bounced around, Sauvé made a number of saves, but SDE simply could not clear the puck or tie up sticks and Sjölund eventually deposited her shot in the back of the net. Down by three nearly halfway through the game, SDE finally converted on a power play, already their fifth of the evening. Malia Schneider, who looked sharp all game, redirected a Kayleigh Hamers pass past Luleå keeper Sara Grahn to make the score 3-1. Three more minor penalties were assessed in the period, two against Luleå and one to SDE. Neither team’s power play could convert, but Petra Nieminen did not need a power play to score her second of the night: on another breakaway, she deked hard to her forehand, waited for Sauvé to bite, and then dragged wide to her backhand, a move reminiscent of that used so effectively by her countrymen Saku and Mikko Koivu in the NHL. 4-1 Luleå.
SDE’s effort is difficult to question — they skate hard, they shoot the puck, they get chippy after the whistle, they obviously care — but something is missing. Their timing has appeared slightly off all season, whether due to a lack of communication or chemistry or something else is anyone’s guess, but this team has not yet gelled, more than half way into the season. Malia Schneider added her second of the night late in the third period, but it was too little, too late, and Luleå won 4-2. The additions of Norcross and Bujold have gilded Luleå’s lily, adding speed, strength and scoring to an already fearsome crew. Fans should look forward to the rest of the league’s response.
MoDo and Brynäs meet tomorrow in the league’s only game.