Swiss goaltender makes it look easy in third shutout of season, Gruschow and Jakobsen make season debuts in SDHL action.
Swiss goaltender makes it look easy in third shutout of season, Gruschow and Jakobsen make season debuts in SDHL action.
The SDHL’s third and fourth place teams, MoDo and Brynäs, met in the league's lone game on Thursday evening in chilly Örnsköldsvik. The game notably featured recent MoDo acquisition Alexa Gruschow, a center with extensive experience from the PWHL, the now-defunct NWHL, the PWHPA and the NCAA. Brynäs, for their part, welcomed back defender and Danish Olympian Josefine Jakobsen. Due to a lower body injury, Jakobsen was limited to two games in 2023-24 and had yet to crack the lineup this season.
MoDo got on the board early, when Mira Hallin and Adéla Šapovalivová crossed the offensive blue line together at high speed. Brynäs had numbers back, and should have been able to smother puck-carrying Hallin before she got a shot off, but she juked and jived and beat Brynäs goaltender Ena Nystrøm with a quick snap shot to make it 1-0 barely a minute into the game. For the rest of the first period, MoDo’s typically aggressive forecheck kept Brynäs hemmed into their own zone, unable to break out consistently. Shots were 12-6 in favor of MoDo, but the score remained 1-0.
The second period was more of the same: MoDo eliminated Brynäs’ time and space all over the ice, and Brynäs, almost dutifully, handed the puck over. Some bright spots for the struggling visitors were forwards Hanna Thuvik and Jenniina Nylund, both of whom seemed determined to turn the game around, but were denied each time by the exemplary play of MoDo keeper Andrea Brändli. Thuvik, riding a nine-game point streak, created chances seemingly out of nothing, using her speed, slick cutbacks and vision. Linemate Nylund attacked seams, occupied the slot and did absolutely everything she could — short of scoring. As is often, and cruelly, the case in hockey, the Brynäs duo’s best efforts were rewarded with a goal by the opposition. Forechecking MoDo forced a turnover along the right wing boards that popped up to defender Alexie Guay, hovering on the blue line. Guay held on to the puck just long enough for a streaking Darcie Lappan to get under a Brynäs defender and attack the far post. Guay sent a perfect shot-pass on to Lappan’s stick, and Lappan redirected it past Nystrøm to give MoDo a 2-0 lead.
Brynäs awakened in the third period, and generated a number of quality chances, but Brändli was up for the challenge and turned away every one of the 12 shots sent her way. She finished with 24 saves and earned her third shutout of the season. Alexa Gruschow ended the game with a few shifts on the top line, and won a pair of crucial faceoffs with MoDo shorthanded. She will undoubtably contribute more as she acclimatises to her knew team, just as Lappan has become more comfortable (and more crucial to MoDo’s continued success) as the season has progressed. Brynäs’ Jakobsen saw limited shifts, mostly as a winger.
With the win, MoDo climbs into second place, one point ahead of Frölunda who have a game in hand. Brynäs remains stagnant in fourth place. Both teams are off until December 29, when Brynäs meets Luleå and MoDo plays Skellefteå.