Nieminen's Four Goal Night Sinks SDE

On a evening when Svensson, Pettet, Pištěková, Perrault and Nylund recorded multi-goal games, Nieminen's feat stood out.

Several players across the SDHL had multi-goal performances this week, but it was Petra Nieminen's four goal game against SDE that stole the show.

On Halloween night, Frölunda got on the board first when Andrea Dalen’s wraparound attempt was denied by Djurgården goalkeeper Ida Boman, but the rebound was swatted in by Jenny-on-the-spot Emilia Bergeby Hallbeck to give her team a 1-0 lead. Djurgården evened the score early in the second period when they took advantage of a rare misplay by FHC keeper Stephanie Neatby. As Neatby skated behind the net to stop a rimmed puck, she appeared to hesitate due to a miscommunication with her defender. Her confusion allowed a forechecking Hana Haasova to steal the puck and pass into the slot. Djurgården would get a couple of whacks at it before Tereza Plosova finally scored to tie the game at one apiece. The bad puck luck continued for Frölunda when DIF took their first lead later in the period. Brette Pettet’s initial shot was blocked by Felizia Wikner Zienkiewicz, but found its way back onto the Djurgården captain’s stick. She made no mistake with her second opportunity, ripping a wrister past Neatby to make it 2-1. Late in the frame, Frölunda tied the score again on a dynamic play by league scoring leader Elisa Holopainen, who finished a long sequence of possession by threading a pass to Sanni Rantala who scored from the slot.

Djurgården notched the eventual game-winner with thirteen minutes remaining in the third period. Sloppy Frölunda defending allowed DIF defender Wilma Georgny to drive through the slot completely unmolested, and she redirected a smooth Isabelle Leijonhielm pass past Stephanie Neatby to make the score 3-2. A late Frölunda penalty effectively quashed hopes of a comeback, sending Djurgården and their fans home happy. The win was Djurgården’s third straight, while Frölunda’s challenges with consistency continue — they have one win in their last 5 games.

Nearly two months into the season, Luleå find themselves in a familiar position atop the league’s standings. Their lead is by no means insurmountable, however, as prior to tonight’s game they are ahead of Frölunda and MoDo by only three points and MoDo has a game in hand. SDE was hoping to build momentum after knocking off MoDo 3-2 last Sunday. Luleå opened the scoring fewer than three minutes in, as Petra Nieminen tallied her seventh of the season. Before the ink dried on the scoresheet, SDE responded with a goal of their own courtesy of Liliane Perrault, and added another 23 seconds later to make it 2-1 SDE early in the first. The visitors held their lead until halfway through the second period, when Luleå took over. First came Viivi Vainikka’s seventh of the year followed by Nieminen’s second of the game, this time on the power play. In the third, Perrault scored again to knot the match at three, but Luleå and Nieminen again responded, retaking the lead 90 seconds later. Nieminen scored once more to give her four goals on the night and 10 on the season. Luleå won 5-3 and maintain their position as the league’s top team.

A very important match for two teams looking to avoid the relegation round at the end of the regular season. Leksand has the league’s worst scoring efficiency, scoring on a meagre 5.74% of their shots, and will need to find a way to get more pucks to the back of the net. Skellefteå, meanwhile, has shown that they can hang with the better teams in the league, and must now do so on a more consistent basis. Leksand came out looking determined to win, as they pumped 13 shots on Skellefteå goalkeeper Camryn Drever in the first period. Their efforts bore no fruit, and the teams entered the intermission tied at 0-0. The second period featured even more Leksand shots, but many of them were from the perimeter. One thing fans have learned about Camryn Drever this season is that if she can see the puck, she can stop it. Leksand took shots but did not do a good enough job creating traffic and again came up empty handed. It was Skellefteå that finally broke the deadlock in the second period when a Pernilla Forsgren point shot made its way to Isabella Pozzi in the slot. Pozzi skated left and deposited the puck behind Leksand keeper Emma Polusny to give her team the lead. The goal seemed to give Skellefteå a renewed energy, as they largely controlled the play in the third period, eventually winning 1-0. The shutout was the first of Drever’s SDHL career, and the win was Skellefteå’s first ever SDHL home victory. Both teams are back in action on Sunday.

Brynäs had a rough start to the season, dropping five of their first eight games, but have steadily clawed their way back, and are now winners of five straight. MoDo, meanwhile, sits tied for second place despite a recent loss to SDE. Both teams came out determined to win on Friday evening, and the game was a back and forth affair. The first period, though scoreless, went in favour of MoDo, as they used their signature aggressive forecheck to pin Brynäs into their own zone. In the second period, Brynäs adjusted, using multiple lateral passes to beat oncoming forecheckers, enter the offensive zone and register shots on MoDo goalie Andrea Brändli, but to no avail. The score remained 0-0 after two periods of play. Halfway through the third period, things got wild. First, MoDO finally opened the scoring when Mira Hallin’s point shot caromed off Lovisa Engström and past Brynäs keeper Ena Nystrøm. Three minutes later, Brynäs responded when Jenniina Nylund scored on the power play to the delight of local fans who showered the ice with teddy bears for charity. Less than three minutes after that, MoDo scored again, this time on a seemingly harmless long distance shot that caught a screened Nystrøm unawares to make it 2-1. With time winding down, Nylund came to the rescue again, potting her second of the night to knot the score at two. The game looked like it might be headed to overtime, but Adéla Šapovalivová and MoDo had other ideas. Sprung on a 2-on-1 only 30 seconds after Nylund’s tying goal, Šapovalivová elected to shoot, ripping the game-winning goal over Nystrøm’s shoulder. With the win, MoDo takes over sole possession of second place in the league standings.

Djurgården, winners of three straight, were looking to keep the good times rolling, while a HV71 win would allow the team climb out of the Relegation Round over a stagnant SDE. HV got off to an excellent start as Elin Svensson scored two in the first period, her eighth and ninth goals of the season. The second period produced two goals from another individual, this time Djurgården’s Tereza Pištěková to tie the game 2-2. With the game still tied in the third, Djurgården captain Brette Pettet went to work, scoring at 47:51 to give her team the lead, then again at 49:57 to put the win further out of reach for HV. DIF's Isabelle Leijonhielm added another with just over three minutes left to play, and Djurgården earned their fourth straight win, 5-2. Both teams are off until the end of the International Break.