Year 2 for the Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) kicked off over Thanksgiving weekend, with all six teams opening their season across Friday and Saturday. After an exciting offseason, with new names and jerseys for each organization, the anticipation for the new campaign was at a fever pitch. Here's a quick recap of the weekend's festivities.
Toronto 3, Boston 1
The season's opening bout featured the Walter Cup runners-up against the regular-season champs, and we quickly got a look at one of the league's newest rules. Boston earned an early power play, forcing Toronto to keep the same group on the ice that was present for the infraction, known as the "No Escape Rule." The Fleet used that to their advantage as Hilary Knight scored the first goal of the league's sophomore season.
The Sceptres eventually found their stride with Sarah Nurse scoring a short-handed breakaway goal later in the period to draw even. The score remained 1-1 for most of the afternoon, but a boarding call against Knight with 2:04 left put Toronto on the power play. Hannah Miller made Boston pay, scoring with 1:38 remaining to put the Sceptres ahead. Emma Maltais added the empty netter for the 3-1 Toronto victory.
In defeat, Boston goalie Aerin Frankel was phenomenal, making 38 stops to stymie the Toronto offense for most of the contest. Boston also played with a ton of aggression, though it proved to be their downfall. Toronto features a ton of skill, which doesn't include reigning MVP Natalie Spooner as she recovers from ACL surgery following an injury during the postseason. For a group with championship aspirations, this was a good start.
Montreal 4, Ottawa 3 (SO)
It was an all-Canadian affair for Friday evening's battle between the Ottawa Charge and the Victoire de Montreal. Ottawa created their own luck early, getting a pair of wacky goals to take an early 2-0 lead. Abby Boreen helped push Ottawa's first goal across, while 2nd overall pick Danielle Serdachny's goal hit a Montreal skate on her wrap-around.
Montreal fought back even after Boreen took advantage of a turnover and Laura Stacey ripped a one-timer bar down on the power play midway through the period. Tereza Vanisova responded with a power-play breakaway goal late in the period to restore the lead, but Jennifer Gardiner scored Montreal's second power-play goal of the game midway through the third to tie it at three.
Neither side finished it in overtime, making way for the season's first shootout. Naturally, Montreal captain Marie-Philip Poulin finished the job, scoring in the top of the fifth while Ann-Renee Desbiens shut the door to finish the win for Montreal. Ottawa goalie Emerance Maschmeyer put up 42 stops and four more in the shootout, but it wasn't enough to get the job done.
New York 4, Minnesota 3 (OT)
The final game of the weekend, and the only game on Saturday, saw the defending Walter Cup champions in front of their home crowd. The good vibes were immediate for Minnesota. Grace Zumwinkle scored 21 seconds into the game to get the crowd buzzing. Kendall Coyne Schofield added another late in the first period by winning a battle in front of the net and potting the rebound.
Not to be forgotten, the New York Sirens fought back in the second period. Jessie Eldridge clapped a one-timer on the power play to get New York on the board. Then, Gabby Rosenthal found daylight on Nicole Hensley's short side, sneaking a rebound through to tie the game. Early in the third period, top pick Sarah Fillier made her presence felt, saucing a gorgeous pass to Alex Carpenter in transition to stun the crowd and give the Sirens their first lead of the game.
The Frost took advantage of a late New York turnover to tie the game. Dominique Petrie was the benefactor, scoring on a 2-on-1 with 4:13 left to knot it and force overtime. Extra time didn't last very long. New York won the draw, Fillier passed it to Carpenter in the slot, and Carpenter buried the game-winning goal 19 seconds into overtime to shock the champs and earn the Sirens the second point. It has only been one game, but New York might have something cooking with Fillier and Carpenter together. It might be enough to drag them out of the cellar in Year 2.