There’s eight games on tap this weekend in the SDHL with plenty of good matchups. Here’s two we’ll be watching especially closely and think you should be too.
Brynäs v Luleå – Saturday at 15:00 (9 a.m. eastern)
Pending the outcome of Brynäs’s game on Friday against MODO, this could be the second straight weekend where two undefeated team match up.
Brynäs should beat MODO who is 1-3 with their only win coming against the win-less Göteborg. They’re an extremely fast team who outlasted SDE’s strong defense last weekend for their third win. Their depth at forward makes them tough to defend as nearly any player can strike at any moment.
A matchup of undefeated is no stranger to Luleå who had the same situation last weekend. They handed Linköping their first loss of the season in a game that saw no goals scored in the first two periods and then six in the third. Luleå prevailed, 4-1, to remain undefeated.
Expect another high scoring game give the offenses of both these teams.
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Djurgårdens v HV71 – Saturday at 17:00 (11 a.m. eastern)
Djurgårdens’s 2-2 record doesn’t quite tell their whole story of their first four games. They have 150 shots on net this year but have only scored six goals, which probably says more about the goaltenders they’ve faced rather than them. For example, in their first game of the season, they put 52 shots up on reigning Goaltender of the Year Lindsay Post at SDE and yet came away with a loss.
This weekend might change that though as neither HV71 goaltender has faced such a barrage of shots yet. In fact, they’ve only seen 64 total shots over three games. If HV71’s defenders can’t help shutdown Djurgårdens’s forwards how Alba Gonzalo, who has played the majority of the minutes, or Lina Van Noort are able to handle the possible massive amount of shots will be a game changer.
For HV71, its been a bit of a rocky start to the season. The reigning regular season champions already had lost Hanna Olsson to a season-ending knee injury and Sanni Hakala to a shoulder injury. In the first game of the season, Julia Tylke went down in the corner and Hockey Sverige is reporting its a season-ending knee injury as well.
They’re 2-1 this season with their lose coming to Luleå in that first game and the two wins coming over win-less Göteborg and one-win MODO. This will be a great test for them to see if they can rise up to the top portion of the table again.
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Full Schedule
All times are local to Sweden
Friday at 19:00 – Brynäs v MODO
Friday at 19:30 – AIK v SDE
Saturday at 13:00 – Leksands v MODO
Saturday at 15:00 – Brynäs v Luleå
Saturday at 17:00 – Djurgårdens v HV71
Saturday at 19:00 – Linköping v Göteborg
Sunday at 12:30 – Leksands v Luleå
Sunday at 14:00 – Djurgårdens v Göteborg
Standings as of 9/23
| RK | Team | GP | W | T | L | OTW | OTL | TP | GF:GA (GD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luleå HF | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 18:3 (15) |
| 2 | Brynäs IF | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 13:4 (9) |
| 3 | Linköping HC | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 8:7 (1) |
| 4 | HV 71 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 11:8 (3) |
| 5 | Djurgårdens IF | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6:9 (-3) |
| 6 | SDE HF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 8:5 (3) |
| 7 | Leksands IF | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 7:12 (-5) |
| 8 | MODO Hockey | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8:8 (0) |