LOWELL, Mass — In their second meeting of the season, PWHL New York (2-3-1-4) beat Boston (2-2-2-3) in overtime, 2-1, at the Tsongas Center on Saturday afternoon.
“I really liked our start,” said PWHL New York head coach Howie Draper following the game. “I thought the third period could have gone either way, but we’re quite happy with getting it to overtime and putting it away again.”
PWHL New York finds liberty in the first
The first period was a back and forth affair. Both teams picked up some solid chances, but neither could hold possession in attacking ice for long. Boston’s goaltender, Aerin Frankel, had herself a strong period, stopping the few high-quality chances that New York put together.
The scoreless deadlock did not hold for too long, however. Frankel struggled to hold onto Jill Saulnier’s point blank try, sending the rebound to the top of the crease. In the midst of a wild scramble in front of the net, the puck found the stick of New York’s Emma Woods, who shoveled it past the sprawled-out netminder to put the visitors up 1-0 with five minutes to play in the opening period.
Madison Packer finally picked up her first PWHL point in her tenth game in the league, being awarded the secondary assist.
The first period would finish with New York leading 1-0, but the shots on goal were even at 8 apiece.
A meticulous middle frame
The second period would start with the hosts on the back foot as Kaleigh Fratkin was sent to the box for holding less than 30 seconds into the period. The New York man advantage unit would struggle to contain Boston’s penalty killers.
Rather than launching the puck down the ice, the PK unit elected to carry the puck out of the zone and spring the counterattack early and often, denying any truly dangerous chances to be formed by New York.
New York’s Jade Downie-Landry would take a penalty of her own, being handed a tripping minor just before the seven-minute mark of the period. The Boston power play would have a monstrous surge during their power play opportunity, but New York keeper Corinne Schroeder would foil every effort.
With the expiration of the penalty, New York took the chance to launch a counterattack of their own. Frankel was up to the challenge, denying the biggest opportunity of the night to hold the deficit to one.
A post whistle scrum would bring the excitement of the 4,002 hockey fans in attendance to a rolling boil. New York’s Abby Roque gave Frankel a whack to the pads after the whistle had blown, drawing the attention of Loren Gable, who gave her two hard cross-checks to the arm. Referee Lacey Sunek would order both players to the box for matching roughing minors.
Not your grandma’s hockey!
Megan Keller brought the Tsongas Center crowd to its feet when she delivered a thunderous body check along the half-wall, removing Downie-Landry from a promising New York attack.
The visitors would push to issue all the way to the end of the period. Micah Zandee-Hart sent a centering pass from the top of the circle in the direction of Downie-Landry. The McGill alumnus got just enough of the puck to tip it towards the near post.
The puck likely would have gone in had it not been for another highlight reel save by Aerin Frankel. Frankel got just enough of the puck with the toe of her pad to deflect the puck off the goalpost and back towards her glove.
After four minutes of incredibly defensive hockey, the score remained 1-0, with Boston holding the lead in the shot department 22 to 15.
The powder keg erupts!
The opening ten minutes of the third period would be as cagy as things had been all night. Each team traded brief attacks, but the puck seemed to be stuck in the neutral zone.
Things would pick up as time began to wind down. While Taylor Girard was handed a minor penalty for high sticking, Boston’s penalty kill unit would once again attempt to execute a jailbreak. Hannah Brandt gained possession near her own blue line, saw an opening and took off down the ice.
All alone with Corinne Schroeder, her shot ramped off the goaltender’s stick. Schroeder got a piece of it with her trapper, but the puck flipped end over end before landing just inches from the goal line. The crowd exploded, believing that Brandt had completed the comeback in style.
Ella Shelton, however, came to the aid of her netminder, swiping the puck away with her stick as the goal horn blared a false alarm. The shot would be reviewed at the next stoppage, but the replay showed that the puck was (relatively) nowhere near the goal line.
The PWHL Boston audio crew would get to sound the siren with confidence just a few minutes later. Megan Keller finally found twine over the glove of Schroeder to tie the game with 1:04 to play in regulation and sending the game to overtime.
Close, but no cigar.
Boston would come out guns blazing in the extra frame, launching an attack off of the opening face off. A Hannah Brandt centering pass would not find its target, instead ending up in the glove of Schroeder, who held onto the puck while Susanna Tapani crashed into her.
The hosts would send out Alina Müller, Hillary Knight, and Jessica Digirolamo in an attempt to put New York to bed on the ensuing face off. After a lengthy offensive possession, a quick counterattack by the visitors would spell disaster for Boston.
With the defense gassed, Alex Carpenter would have all the time she needed to fire the puck past Aerin Frankel and give New York the extra point by a final score of 2-1.
Postgame proceedings
PWHL New York head coach Howie Draper directed much of his praise towards goaltender Corinne Schroeder after another stellar performance.
“Corinne has given us an opportunity to win every game that she’s played in,” Draper said. “I would say the same for [Abigail Levy]. They’re both outstanding goalies. We’re very fortunate to have them in our net.”
Boston’s offensive lines again lacked the ability to execute when it mattered. With the amount of talent up front, Courtney Kessel has been left waiting and wondering.
“Once again, so many chances, not enough goals,” said Kessel postgame. “We have find ways to put games away. We have all these offensive players and the ball’s got to drop at some point. You can’t have this much talent and not be putting up points.”
Kessel also spoke on the incredible talent that exists throughout the league and the challenges that come with facing off against virtual all-star teams night in and night out.
“You can’t afford a bad turnover at any point in the game,” said Kessel. “It doesn’t matter what team you play. Every team is so good offensively. If you have a bad turnover, it’s in the back of your net. When it comes to goalies, look at Schroeder. She stole that game for them.”
PWHL Boston will take on Ottawa at the Tsongas Center on Monday at 4:30 PM. New York will host Montréal at UBS Arena on Wednesday night at 7:00. All PWHL games can be streamed on YouTube.
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