Whitecaps earn first sweep and Whale get first win
The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) regular season schedule hit December with a pair of weekend doubleheaders hosted by Minnesota and Montreal. The Whitecaps earned their first two wins at home against the Metropolitan Riveters, while the Force split their series with the Connecticut Whale who won their first game of the season.
Here’s a closer look at the results, top performers, and notable highlights:
SATURDAY DECEMBER 3, 2022
Game 15
Connecticut Whale 3
Montreal Force 4 SO
Box Score | Highlights
Ann-Sophie Bettez scored the shootout winner in front of family and friends in her hometown of Sept-Îles as Montreal erased 2-0 and 3-2 deficits to earn a thrilling victory over Connecticut.
Game 16
Metropolitan Riveters 3
Minnesota Whitecaps 4
Box Score | Highlights
Minnesota picked up their first win of the season, scoring four-straight goals including two on the power play off the stick of Patti Marshall and withstood a late Metropolitan three-goal comeback bid.
SUNDAY DECEMBER 4, 2022
Game 17
Connecticut Whale 3
Montreal Force 2
Box Score | Highlights
Reigning PHF MVP Kennedy Marchment broke a 2-2 tie with 5:41 remaining in regulation and Abbie Ives stopped 35 shots to lead the Whale to their first win of the season over the Force.
Game 18
Metropolitan Riveters 1
Minnesota Whitecaps 4
Box Score | Highlights
The Whitecaps scored three unanswered goals in the third period led by Sydney Brodt who had a three-point performance to clinch the weekend series sweep over the Riveters.
EVERYBODY ON THE BOARD
Even though there are still some gaps in total games played, all seven PHF teams are now in the win column and have points in the standings. The Boston Pride (5-1-0) and Toronto Six (4-1-1) were both idle this weekend yet remain the top two teams with 13 and 12 points respectively. The Minnesota Whitecaps (2-2-2) took all six points off the table in their weekend sweep and now rank in third place with eight points, while two points in the shootout win for the Montreal Force (3-3-0) puts them into fourth place with seven points. The Metropolitan Riveters (2-5-0) drop to fifth place with six points, followed by the Buffalo Beauts (1-0-1) and Connecticut Whale (1-1-1) who both have four points, largely on account of playing fewer games than the rest of the field.
FIRST WEEKEND SWEEP GOES TO WHITECAPS
Minnesota beating Metropolitan twice in regulation makes for the first full weekend series sweep of the 2022-23 season where a team has taken all six available points away from their opposition. Last season there were a total of 15 weekend series sweeps and the Whitecaps had just one of them, beating Buffalo twice on the road January 22-23. The last time the team grabbed all available weekend points on home ice was in the final series of the 2019-20 season against Connecticut played February 29 and March 1.
SECOND SHOOTOUT WIN FOR THE FORCE
There has already been two shootouts so far through 18 games and Montreal has won them both. Last season there was only one game among 60 that required a shootout, while nine games were decided in the newly introduced three-on-three overtime. The Riveters are the last team to win two games in a shootout, doing so during the 2018-19 season. The 2017-18 Beauts and Whale also won two shootout games, as did the 2016-17 Pride. The inaugural 2015-16 Whale hold the PHF single season record with three shootout wins. Tricia Deguire has backstopped the Force to both shootout wins and is already tied for the PHF single season record shared by Amanda Leveille when she was with Buffalo, Connecticut’s Sydney Rossman, Boston’s Brittany Ott, and the Whale’s Jaimie Leonoff.
FIRST CAREER PHF GOALS
Four defenders recorded their first career PHF goals this weekend including two who didn’t stop at one. Returning All-Star Patti Marshall of the Minnesota Whitecaps picked up her first goal in her 25th game on Saturday at the 4:08 mark of the second period on the power play, then potted her second one again with the advantage later in the frame which held as the game-winner. During the same contest, Riveters newcomer Minttu Tuominen also found the back of the net twice on the power play, scoring just 2:01 apart in her sixth career PHF appearance. Two members of the Montreal Force also scored their first PHF goals this weekend. Catherine Daoust’s late third period tally on Saturday in her fifth career game tied the score and helped her team pick up two points, while Kaity Howarth buried one on Sunday in her sixth game of the season.
FIRST GOALS SINCE FEBRUARY 24, 2019
Minnesota’s Denisa Křížová and Metropolitan’s Amanda Pelkey both scored their first goals of the season in a head-to-head battle on Saturday. Interestingly, the last time both players scored PHF goals was in the same game on February 24, 2019 as teammates with Boston in a 6-1 victory over Connecticut. Křížová played the 2018-19 campaign with the Pride and scored six goals in 16 games and has spent the past three seasons in the SDHL before signing with the Whitecaps where she scored in her fifth game. Pelkey played three seasons with the Pride from 2015-17 and 2018-19 amassing 14 goals in 49 games. She spent the past three seasons with the PWHPA and produced her first snipe for the Riveters in her sixth game.
DYNAMIC DUO DELIVER
Connecticut counted their first four points of the PHF season and it’s no surprise that the dynamic duo of Kennedy Marchment and Taylor Girard were at the forefront of the offense. The pair combined for six points against Montreal and connected on three of the team’s six goals. Marchment, who tallied twice, earned MVP honors last season and was the league’s top scorer with 33 points, while Girard, who scored her second career shorthanded goal, was voted Newcomer of the Year with 24 points that tied for third overall across the PHF.
TWO WINS FOR LEVEILLE
With every win she earns for the Whitecaps the legacy for Amanda Leveille continues to build between-the-pipes. The two-time PHF Goaltender of the Year stopped 57 of 61 shots faced this weekend to post back-to-back victories for the first time since January. She now has 54 wins over her illustrious seven-year career, and accounts for 36 of Minnesota’s 40 wins since they joined the PHF in 2018-19. She currently leads PHF netminders in minutes played at 359:08 and holds a goals-against-average of 2.84 that ranks third and a save percentage of .907 that is fourth best so far this season.
BUSY START FOR IVES
Abbie Ives has played two games in the Connecticut crease so far this season and both stand as the two highest shot and save totals of her three-year PHF career that now consists of 20 starts. During the season opener in Boston the 24-year-old turned aside 37 of 41 despite the 4-0 loss, and on Sunday she stopped 35 of 37 in the 3-2 victory over Montreal. Her previous high was 34 saves on 35 shots, performed twice in victories over the Pride in each of the last two seasons. Last year the Whale allowed the fewest shots and goals of any PHF team and Ives set a franchise single season record with 10 wins.
POTENT POWER PLAYS
A pair of PHF power plays got a significant boost over the weekend. Minttu Tuominen’s trio of tallies helped the Riveters convert on three of their nine opportunities with the advantage, while Patti Marshall’s pair along with one from Natalie Snodgrass on Sunday gave the Whitecaps success on three of 10 chances. Minnesota now leads the PHF in PP efficiency at .227 (5/22), followed by Metropolitan at .194 (6/31). Conversely, both teams took a hit on their respective penalty kill percentages. The Riveters now rank fifth in that department at .800 (24/30), while the Whitecaps are seventh at .737 (14/19).
NEW OFFENSIVE LEADERS
Jade Downie-Landry now sits alone atop the PHF scoring charts with nine points in three games. The Montreal forward added one assist over the weekend to take over sole possession of the lead by separating herself from Toronto’s Brittany Howard and Metropolitan’s Sarah Bujold who both have eight points. Riveters defender Anna Kilponen recorded three assists on the weekend and now has six in seven games which leads the PHF in that category and also ranks first in points at her position.
Next weekend features six teams in action including the Whale who host the Whitecaps in their home opening series on Friday Dec. 9 and Saturday Dec. 10. The Riveters travel to Toronto and the Pride visit the Beauts for two games each on Saturday and Sunday Dec. 11. All of the action is available across the United States live on ESPN+ and in Canada at TSN.ca.
Cover photo by Sam Silver
