Her First Professional Goal

The reigning Canada West Player of the Year suited up for her first professional game today in the SDHL as former Mount Royal Cougars forward Tatum Amy donned the #20 jersey of Leksands IF. As we know from an article this week, Leksands was looking to continue to change the philosophy of the club moving forward this season with the addition of some key players - one of whom is Amy - who can play the game how head coach Jordan Colliton wants to see it played. More goals is certainly something that Colliton needs from her team, but they were in tough against a very good Djurgårdens club which had reloaded their roster for this season as well. Would we see some of the new players brought in make an impact in Leksands' opening game of the 2023-24 SDHL season?

One of those new players got Leksands on the board in the first period after they had fallen behind 1-0. Taylor Leech's long wrist shot from the right point was deflected in front, and the puck found its way high past Ida Boman to tie the game up before the intermission at 19:34. One of the new leaders scored the opening goal for Leksands, and it was a 1-1 game heading into the second period.

Good teams find a way to play the full sixty minutes of every game, and it seems that Leksands is still learning that fact as the second period didn't go well for them. Djurgårdens scored in the frame, but controlled the play for most of the 20-minute period as they looked every bit as confident in their game as they did last season. I'm sure Colliton will have some video segments they'll want to break down this week, but Leksands trailed 2-1 heading into the third period.

a coe Former Wisconsin Badgers forward Brette Pettet put Djurgårdens up 3-1 with a power-play goal before the five-minute mark of the third period, and this may have been a problem for Leksands last season when scoring was at a premium. Would we see a comeback from Leksands on this day or would they still be plagued with their offensive challenges?

You can officially mark 12:25 of the third period as a major milestone in Tatum Amy's career as she hit the scoreboard for Leksands!
The official scoring record will see Tatum Amy score on a pass from Agata Sarnovska which was started by Fanny Brolin, but that highlight marks the first professional goal scored by Amy in her career! If you watch the play once more, you'll see Amy get to the inside of the defender who was checking Brolin, and the forward who was backchecking made the mistake of letting Amy skate right into the crease with no check. A great feed from Sarnovska allowed Amy to chip the puck into the back of the net, and Amy's first professional goal is a memorable one!

Amy's goal also cut the deficit to 3-2 as Leksands pulled within a goal with just over seven-and-a-half minutes to play, but that's as close as Leksands would get as they simply couldn't find the equalizer. Leksands deserves some credit, though, as they outshot Djurgårdens 32-16 in this game, but it seems obvious that goaltender Emma Polusny has to be better if Leksands is going to have a chance at beating their opposition this season.

It's clear that two of the players that Colliton is relying on for more leadership and offence this season had an impact in today's game. Leech scored her first Swedish goal today, and Amy notched her first professional goal on a fantastic play from her line. They'll need both players to continue to contribute this week as Leksands hits the road for a game against Linköping on Tuesday before meeting SDE on Thursday. One loss isn't anything to freak out over, but there are some positives from this game on which Leksands can build.

Congratulations to Tatum Amy on her first professional goal that reminded me of her fantastic play while wearing a Cougars uniform! If her play in this game was a sign of her season, there will be a number of other goals off Amy's stick that will appear here on HBIC!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!