Courtesy of Lily Karlin/Girls Club
Newark, N.J.- PWHL New York returned to the Prudential Center for the team’s second to last home game of season. After a disappointing 6-2 loss to Toronto on Sunday, New York was looking to rebound and get back in the win column by defeating PWHL Ottawa. Ottawa entered this contest with a fresh 2-0 loss to Montreal on Saturday.
This game had crucial implications for both teams. With a regulation win, PWHL Ottawa would clinch a playoff berth. For New York, the team needed at least a point to clinch the first overall pick in the upcoming PWHL draft. With important points on the line, this game was set to be an entertaining contest for all fans in attendance at The Rock.
Courtesy of Lily Karlin/Girls Club
The first period was fast paced and full of great scoring opportunities for each team, but New York’s Corinne Schroeder and Ottawa’s Emerance Maschmeyer stood tall in their nets to keep the game scoreless. But at just over five minutes in, Akane Shiga scored her second goal of the season to put Ottawa up 1-0. Savannah Harmon and Natalie Snodgrass picked up the assists on the tally. About halfway through the opening frame, Ella Shelton went to the box for a two minute tripping minor which gave Ottawa the first power play of the game. Despite Ottawa keeping the puck in the zone and laying shots on net, New York was able to kill the penalty. However, Ottawa kept the pressure up and Hayley Scamurra was able to get a shot past Schroeder to put her team up 2-0 with 5:35 left in the first. New York went into the first intermission down two goals with hopes of getting back in the game.
New York started the second strong and continued to make plays that would set up beautiful goals. Even with their best efforts though, Maschmeyer remained unbreakable as she stopped every shot she faced. Finally, at 7:24 in the middle frame, Jade Downie-Landry broke through and scored on a pretty toe-drag move to get New York on the board. New York kept the pressure on and it wasn’t long until Ella Shelton rushed into the offensive zone on a breakaway and found the back of the net to tie the game at 2-2. The avalanche of goals didn’t stop there as just over three minutes later, Kayla Vespa picked up her second goal of the season to give New York the 3-2 lead. While Ottawa tried to get it out of their own zone and regain control of the game, New York stayed relentless and Elizabeth Giguère got a puck past Maschmeyer to make the score 4-2. The home team scored an impressive four goals in the second period which was easily their strongest response to being down early all season.
Courtesy of Lily Karlin/Girls Club
The final 20 minutes were a back and forth affair with neither team finding the scoresheet again for quite some time. But within the last minute of play, Daryl Watts was able to get one past Schroeder after a flurry of shots from Ottawa to make the score 4-3. In the end, PWHL New York earned their fourth regulation win of the season by defeating PWHL Ottawa 4-3 thanks to that dominant second period!
Shelton and Brooke Hobson each extended their point streaks to three straight games. Shelton recorded her second three point performance of the season thanks to her goal and two assists and Hobson recorded her first multi-point game of the season with her two helpers.
“She’s a younger player so she’s kind of finding her feet a little bit at this level. Right now, she’s on a positive trajectory and that’s great.” New York Head Coach Howie Draper said about Hobson’s recent play. “You can see it in her play, you can see it in her face. She’s enjoying the game right now and as a result, it’s funny when you’re enjoying things and things just seem to be flowing, you end up getting a few more points and good things start to happen for you. She’s going to be an awesome player for us.”
New York was aware of how important that middle frame was not just to this victory, but it also held weight for the future of the team as well.
“We knew [Ottawa was] going to come out hard because they needed this win. Once again, not the start we wanted, but we got a good talk between the periods, got put back into our place and I think we just did it for each other.” Giguère said when asked what changed during the first intermission that led to the team’s play in the second period. “Everyone worked hard and everyone was going to the net and it ended up in the back of the net for once this season. We loved every single minute of it.”
“It was also a nice testament to what our team is able to do. I think we’ve had a few rough patches, but that kind of put things into perspective for the future.” said Downie-Landry.
While the season is coming to a close for New York soon, the crowd at the Prudential Center got one of the most complete games New York has played yet. The outpouring of love and support by everyone in the seats was felt by the players and staff throughout the 60 minutes of play as well which Draper also touched on.
“The most gratifying thing has been the fan support. Even with the groups we’ve had, regardless of how many people are there, it’s an exciting environment. The one thing I’m learning about this area is that they really care about their teams. You feel that whether there’s a thousand people in the stands or five thousand people in the stands. That’s probably been one of the greatest joys I’ve experienced this far.”
PWHL New York’s final game of the inaugural season will be against PWHL Minnesota on Saturday, May 4 at 1 p.m. at UBS Arena.