The eighth weekend of the Premier Hockey Federation regular season began in Pittsburgh with a special neutral site game between Montreal and Connecticut at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, the practice home of the NHL’s Penguins. It was one of three games across the PHF on Saturday.
Montreal Force 5, Connecticut Whale 4
Brigitte Laganiere scored her first career PHF goal with just 19 seconds remaining in regulation to break a 4-4 tie and lift the Force to victory. Montreal trailed four different times throughout the contest, answering every one of Connecticut’s leads with an equalizer. Ann-Sophie Bettez recorded a hat-trick, and Samantha Isbell chipped in a goal and an assist. Kennedy Marchment led the Whale offense with two goals, with single tallies coming from Katerina Mrazova and Melissa Samoskevich. Marie-Soleil Deschenes stopped 28 shots in the win opposite Meeri Raisanen who saved 32. With the three-point regulation win, the Force have climbed past the Whale into fourth place in the overall standings.
Minnesota Whitecaps 3, Metropolitan Riveters 2
Minnesota’s winning-streak reaches three since the turn of the calendar as they beat the Riveters for the third time this season. Sarah Forster gave the home team a second period lead with her first career goal, then Stephanie Anderson’s first of the season got the Whitecaps offense rolling. Brittyn Fleming scored for the second straight game, and Jonna Albers extended her point-streak to six games with her eighth goal of the campaign to make it 3-1. Kelly Babstock’s fifth of the year cut the Rivs deficit to one midway through the third, but Amanda Leveille shut the door to earn her sixth win of the year with a 30-save performance. Katie Burt took the loss with 23 saves.
Buffalo Beauts 0, Boston Pride 8
Boston reclaimed first place in the PHF standings with a dominant display of offensive and defensive depth. Six different players found the back of the net including Allie Thunstrom and McKenna Brand who scored two goals each as part of four and three-point performances. Both of Brand’s came back-to-back in the second period including one shorthanded to make it 3-0 through 40. Jillian Dempsey also tallied shorthanded for the game’s opening goal. Christina Putigna, Loren Gabel, and Olivia Zafuto all added third period singles on top of Thunstrom’s two. The Pride outshot the Beauts 47-19 as Corinne Schroeder picked up her fifth shutout of the season and second of the year against Buffalo.
Cover photo by Joe Sargent / Pittsburgh Penguins
