A record three series sweeps for Boston, Connecticut, and Metropolitan
The Premier Hockey Federation (PHF) regular season moved into March for its second to last weekend of the 2022-23 schedule before the start of the Isobel Cup Playoffs. For the first time in PHF history there were three series sweeps on a single weekend produced by the Boston Pride over the Minnesota Whitecaps, the Connecticut Whale against the Buffalo Beauts, and the Metropolitan Riveters over the Montreal Force.
Here’s a closer look at the results, top performers, and notable highlights:
FRIDAY MARCH 3, 2023
Game 73
Minnesota Whitecaps 4
Boston Pride 5 SO
Box Score | Highlights
Minnesota scored twice in the final minute of regulation to the tie game, but Boston prevailed in the shootout where Jillian Dempsey and Loren Gabel capitalized on their attempts.
SATURDAY MARCH 4, 2023
Game 74
Minnesota Whitecaps 1
Boston Pride 5
Box Score | Highlights
Jillian Dempsey, Christina Putigna, and Aneta Tejralová all scored a goal and an assist to lead the Pride to a sweep over the Whitecaps in front of Corinne Schroeder who earned a record 18th win of the season.
Game 75
Montreal Force 1
Metropolitan Riveters 2 OT
Box Score | Highlights
Sarah Bujold scored the winning goal just 47 seconds into the extra frame to keep the Riveters a perfect 3-0 in overtime and shootout scenarios, all backed by goaltender Katie Burt who made 27 saves.
Game 76
Connecticut Whale 2 OT
Buffalo Beauts 1
Box Score | Highlights
Kennedy Marchment had two points including the overtime winner for Connecticut to extend her consecutive point-streak to a record 15-straight games.
SUNDAY MARCH 5, 2023
Game 77
Connecticut Whale 4
Buffalo Beauts 2
Box Score | Highlights
Make it a 16-game point-streak for Kennedy Marchment who scored a goal and an assist, while third period goals from Caitrin Lonergan and Emma Keenan led the Whale to a sweep over Buffalo.
Game 78
Montreal Force 3
Metropolitan Riveters 4
Box Score | Highlights
The Riveters earned their first sweep of the season over Montreal led by Sarah Bujold who scored another game-winner plus an assist, and Amanda Pelkey who recorded a career-high three assists.
NEAR FINAL STANDINGS
Only one weekend and 12 games remain in the 2022-23 PHF regular season, but all seven teams can still change positions in the final standings. The Boston Pride (18-3-1) earned five of a possible six weekend points to reclaim top rank with 51 points ahead of the idle Toronto Six (16-4-2) who have 48 points going into their final weekend head-to-head series that will determine first place. Third place will also be decided next weekend between the Connecticut Whale (12-8-2) who just improved their chances with five points to bring their total to 37, and the Minnesota Whitecaps (10-9-3) who snagged just one point to bring their total to 33. The Metropolitan Riveters (9-13-0) moved into fifth place with a five-point weekend and now have 24 in total, followed by the Montreal Force (8-14-2) who finish their inaugural season with 23 points, and the Buffalo Beauts (5-14-3) with 18 points and one last chance to climb out of seventh place with a final weekend series against the Riveters.
SCHROEDER SETS SAVES AND WINS RECORDS
It was another record-setting weekend for newcomer Corinne Schroeder who established two new PHF benchmarks between-the-pipes for Boston. On Friday, her 28-save performance in the 5-4 shootout win eclipsed the single season saves record of 677 previously held by Minnesota’s Amanda Leveille during the 2019-20 campaign. Then with the Pride’s 5-1 victory on Saturday, her 33-save effort produced a single season record of 18 wins, surpassing teammate Lovisa Selander who won 17 games in 2019-20. With two games remaining, Schroeder (18-1-1) has already made a franchise-leading 21 starts, posted a PHF record eight shutouts, and has now made 726 saves.
ALBERS RECORDS 100TH CAREER POINT
Minnesota’s Jonna Albers joined some elite company on Saturday becoming just the third player in PHF history to record 100 career regular season points. It was her 10th goal and 20th point of the season that did the trick for the fifth-year member of the Whitecaps who reached 100 with 42 goals and 58 assists in only 83 games. That makes her the fastest to join the prestigious century club ahead of Pride captain Jillian Dempsey who was the first at 48 goals and 52 assists in 93 games, and Riveters captain Madison Packer with 49 goals and 51 assists in 101 career games.
BOSTON SWEEPS SEASON SERIES WITH MINNESOTA
The potential for a playoff matchup between Boston and Minnesota favors the Pride who swept the weekend and overall season series with four wins collecting 10 of a possible 12 points against the Whitecaps. Boston outscored Minnesota 17-9 which included a pair of 5-4 decisions with one in overtime and the other by shootout. This weekend the Pride produced their two highest shot totals of the season with 49 and 51 and held a plus-12 differential over all four games. Boston has now won all five of their completed season series and hold a 13-4 all-time advantage over Minnesota since 2018-19. This is the second season sweep the Whitecaps have surrendered and third-straight weekend sweep as they’ve lost a franchise-high six-straight games.
CONNECTICUT CONTINUES BEATING BUFFALO
The Whale have now won nine-straight regular season games over the Beauts with back-to-back seasons of 4-0 records in head-to-head competition. In 2022-23, Connecticut earned 11 of a possible 12 points over Buffalo, outscored them 16-6, and outshot them by a margin of 76 over four games. Sunday’s victory gave the Whale their first season sweep of the campaign and an 18-17 edge over the Beauts since the Founding Four rivals began battling in 2015-16. Buffalo has now suffered season sweeps against all three of the league’s top ranked teams.
RIVETERS FIRST WEEKEND SWEEP, SERIES WIN OVER MONTREAL
This weekend’s series sweep for the Riveters over the Force was the team’s first since beating Buffalo in back-to-back games Dec. 28-29, 2019. The victories also give the Riveters their first season series win of the 2022-23 campaign, defeating Montreal three out of four times and claiming eight of a possible 12 points. The Riveters narrowly outscored the Force 12-11 over the four games and built a 16-shot differential in their favor over the last two games following even shots in their first two encounters. Even though Montreal managed to beat all six PHF opponents at least once during their expansion season, they were on the losing side of every season series including two split decisions based on points.
BEAUTS AND PRIDE WRAP UP AT HOME
Boston’s success at Warrior Ice Arena in 2022-23 is the best of any PHF team at home this season, winning 11 of their 12 games including eight-straight. This improves on the Pride’s 6-4 home record they produced in 2021-22 but ranks as their second best all-time following the perfect 12-0 mark they set in 2019-20. Buffalo managed just two wins at home this season playing to an overall record of 2-8-2 including 11 games at Northtown Center and one outdoors at Buffalo RiverWorks. This is their most disappointing season on home ice since winning just two of nine at HarborCenter in 2015-16.
FORCE AND WHITECAPS PLAY FINAL ROAD GAMES
Most of Minnesota’s success this season has come on the road, playing to an overall record of 7-3-2 with all seven wins coming in consecutive opportunities including six-straight victories that tied a franchise record. While seven-straight road wins is a franchise-best, the overall mark is second behind the 2019-20 Whitecaps that won eight of 12 games away from home. Montreal had equal success on the road as they did when playing at home with a record of 4-7-1 outside of Quebec. Their first season victories included triumphs in Buffalo, Minnesota, Toronto, and in Pittsburgh as part of the league’s neutral site event hosted by Connecticut.
DOWNIE-LANDRY, BETTEZ LEAD MONTREAL’S MAGIC
Montreal’s historic first season has come to an end, but the emergence of several new PHF stars has made it memorable. Jade Downie-Landry led the Force with 23 points and was also the team’s top playmaker collecting 13 assists in 24 games. One of the league’s top performing collegiate graduates, she was also the team’s leader with 92 shots on goal and 244 faceoff wins. Captain Ann-Sophie Bettez brought experience and leadership to the Force, as well as a nose for the net by scoring a team-high 11 goals and finishing second with 22 points in 23 games. Alexandra Labelle (13), Samantha Isbell (12), and Sarah Lefort (10) all finished with double-digit point totals, while Christine Deaudelin and Taylor Baker led the defense with nine points each. Tricia Deguire started 15 of the team’s 24 games, winning five of them with one shutout for a goals-against-average of 2.59 and save percentage of .918.
MOST EXTRA TIME OUTCOMES
Three of the weekend’s six games required extra time which brings the 2022-23 season tally to seven overtime and six shootout decisions for a combined record total of 13. The previous high of 10 was set last season and included a record nine overtime games, while the previous shootout high of five was established in 2015-16. Friday’s shootout victory was Boston’s first of the season however the team has played five extra time games in total with a 4-1 record. Saturday’s overtime win for the Riveters was their first of the season along with two previous shootout wins to give them a 3-0 record. Connecticut’s overtime win was their first since Jan. 11, 2020 in a 4-3 game won by Kendra Broad. They hold a 1-2 record in OT/SO outcomes. Montreal holds a 3-2 record, Toronto is 2-2, while both Buffalo and Minnesota are 0-3 this season when going to overtime or a shootout.
TRIO OF FIRST CAREER PHF GOALS
Three first career PHF goals were scored on three different days this weekend. Friday it was Minnesota forward Taylor Wente who notched her first at 6:41 of the second period at even strength while playing in her fifth career game with the Whitecaps. It was also the first career PHF point for the 2021 third round draft pick from the University of Minnesota. On Saturday, Riveters All-Star defender Ebba Berglund opened the scoring at 17:09 of the first period with her first tally in her 19th game of the season. The Swedish Olympian now has two points. Then on Sunday, it was Montreal’s Catherine Dubois who scored her first and second career PHF goals in her final game of the season. The second period goal at even strength and the third period marker scored with the extra attacker gave the forward six points in 24 games.
PHF SCORING RACE
Boston’s Loren Gabel added three points in two games to her totals and continues chasing the PHF’s offensive triple crown by leading the way with 38 points, 19 goals, and 19 assists. Connecticut’s Kennedy Marchment is second in all categories with 33 points, 16 goals, and 17 assists. Whale forward Taylor Girard also has 17 assists and 27 points in total which ties her for third with Pride captain Jillian Dempsey. Toronto’s Brittany Howard ranks fifth with 25 points including 15 goals in 18 games. On defense, Toronto’s Kati Tabin is tied with Minnesota’s Sidney Morin with 17 points each, followed by Connecticut’s Allie Munroe with 16 points, and Boston’s Kali Flanagan with 15 points.
SCORING STREAKS
Connecticut’s Kennedy Marchment has extended her PHF record point-streak to 16-straight games. She’s followed by top scorer Loren Gabel whose active streak has now reached nine games. Other players entering the final weekend of regular season action with active point-streaks include Whale forward Taylor Girard and T6 captain Shiann Darkangelo at five games each, Riveters forward Amanda Pelkey at four games, then Pride forwards Becca Gilmore and Christina Putigna at three games each along with Sarah Bujold of the Riveters, Justine Reyes of the Whale, and Tereza Vanišová of T6.
RIVETERS WELCOME ELI MANNING
Two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning is used to starring at MetLife Stadium, home of the NFL’s New York Giants, but on Sunday he was a special guest at the neighboring American Dream. The legendary quarterback performed the ceremonial faceoff with daughters Caroline and Lucy prior to the Riveters game against the Force. It’s not the first time the Riveters and the Manning’s have interacted, as the club hosted a clinic for their Mite U7 team earlier this season at the Beacon Hill Club.
The PHF regular season schedule concludes next weekend with a trio of doubleheaders including a first place battle between Boston and Toronto, a showdown for third place between Connecticut and Minnesota, plus Buffalo and the Riveters battling for fifth place. All the action is available live on ESPN+ and TSN+.
Cover photo by Manny Fernandes @mdphotoandink
