Saturday night was alright for Premier Hockey Federation action with three primetime games to launch the weekend’s schedule.
Buffalo Beauts 4, Minnesota Whitecaps 2
The Beauts’ first road win of the season put an end to the Whitecaps’ six-game winning-streak. Buffalo couldn’t have asked for a better start as Mikyla Grant-Mentis converted a two-on-one opportunity with Summer-Rae Dobson to open the scoring on the team’s first shot just 46 seconds after puck drop. Emma Nuutinen wired a wrist shot to make it 2-0 at 8:45 of the first, then scored her fourth of the season midway through the second period on the power play to build a 3-0 lead. Minnesota fought back to within one thanks to a pair of goals by Sydney Baldwin, her first two of the season, at even strength and then on the power play just 2:18 apart as the second period winded down. Grant-Mentis buried her fifth of the campaign with under four minutes to play in the third to seal the victory. Lovisa Berndtsson picked up her second win of the season with a 27-save performance opposite Jenna Brenneman who also stopped 27 in just her second start of the year. The game was played before the Whitecaps’ first sellout crowd at Richfield Ice Arena.
Toronto Six 5, Connecticut Whale 3
Toronto’s offense came back to life with five goals from five different players a week after being limited to just two tallies in two games. Courtney Gardiner scored her first career PHF goal to open the scoring at 14:53 of the first period. Shiann Darkangelo’s ninth of the year at 4:27 of the second period was the first of three T6 goals in the middle frame. Alyssa Wohlfeiler put Connecticut on the board with a power play goal at 9:34, but Toronto responded with two power play goals of their own by Leah Lum and Lexi Templeman to extend their lead to three after 40 minutes. Another power play goal, this time by Taylor Girard who is tied for the PHF lead with four, brought the Whale back to within two early in the third. With under nine to play, Emma Woods was credited with her ninth of the year deflecting a Lindsay Eastwood shot to make it 5-2. Caitrin Lonergan scored Connecticut’s third goal with just eight seconds left on the clock. Elaine Chuli made 33 saves for her 11th win of the year, while Abbie Ives stopped 20 in defeat. The win moves Toronto 10 points ahead of third place Minnesota, and 16 ahead of the Whale who remain fourth in the standings. Connecticut wore specialty jerseys in support of Alzheimer’s awareness.
Montreal Force 1, Boston Pride 4
Montreal outshot Boston 40-31 but could only slip one past Corinne Schroeder who picked up her 15th win of the season. The victory keeps the Pride in first place, one point ahead of Toronto, while the Force fail to gain any ground in their pursuit of a playoff spot. After a scoreless first period, Loren Gabel lit the lamp on a tremendous individual rush for her league-leading 18th goal of the year. Christina Putigna’s sixth of the year came just 14 seconds later to give Boston a two-goal lead after two. Force captain Ann-Sophie Bettez broke the shutout bid with her 11th goal of the season early in the third, but that’s as close as Montreal would come. Allie Thunstrom finished a goal-mouth scramble for her ninth of the year behind last week’s first star netminder Tricia Deguire with just over seven minutes on the clock. Sammy Davis capped the scoring with an empty-netter with 28 seconds to go. The Pride also wore specialty jerseys to support their Hockey Fights Cancer theme.
Cover photo by Kayla Franz
