Losses Are Piling Up
It has been nearly a month since PWHL NY collected a win. During this dreaded stretch, New York has dropped six straight games, facing every other team in the league once, with Minnesota being the sole club to beat them twice. Nothing seems to be favoring New York, whether home or away. As the season begins to rapidly close, chances of making the playoffs have decreased heavily and quickly for New York. It was crunch time, and the team needed to turn things around to give themselves a fighting chance for the postseason.
In the previous match between these two clubs, New York suffered a tough 4-2 loss on the road. However, it was now time for Ottawa to be the away team, with the next meeting located at Total Mortgage Arena. Despite the game being held in Connecticut, New York’s fan base travels well to support their beloved team. But would the spirit and energy of the fans be enough to propel and put New York back on the right track?
Period 1
It was Abigail Levy in net for New York and on the other side Emerance Maschmeyer for Ottawa. The visitors were shot out of a cannon, peppering Levy with three shots on goal within the first three minutes. They then receive more momentum with New York’s captain Micah Zandee-Hart heading off for interference.
It is always said that a team’s best penalty killer should be the goalie, and Levy provided that strength between the pipes, starting with a great glove save on Aneta Tejralova to keep the game scoreless. She was a wall, stopping two more shots on the Ottawa man-advantage. As this began to die, Ottawa headed to the box with Gabbie Hughes getting called for hooking. However, this power play proved to be useless, as New York could not manage to get a single shot on Maschmeyer.
The penalties continued as New York’s Jamie Bourbonnais was called for boarding. Still, neither was able to convert on the man-advantage. Harmon had a great look but was denied by Levy.
It was all Ottawa in the first period, and their hard work finally paid off thanks to a Daryl Watts goal off of a poor turnover by New York’s star player, Alexander Carpenter. It was a nice give-and-go between Mrazova, Jenner, and, of course, Watts, who ended up in the back of the net, beating Levy blocker-side. Despite New York’s efforts, they did not find their space on the board. Ottawa was dominating in multiple aspects, even outshooting the home team by a mind-boggling 15-5.
Period 2
New York had the opportunity to tie this game off early in the second period thanks to a tripping penalty from Mrazova. Both teams exchanged a shot on goal during New York’s power play, but this was cut short as another tripping penalty was assessed, this time against New York. With Emma Woods sent to the box, the clubs played 4-on-4 for a few seconds until Ottawa went back on the power play.
Fortunately for New York, Ottawa did not extend their lead, and Emma Woods came out of the box to a 1-0 game. The home team had a small surge, peppering Maschmeyer with shots, but none could beat the Ottawa goaltender.
In the final minute of the second frame, Ottawa’s Haley Scamurra was called for roughing, putting NY back in the power play, marking their third go on the man advantage. Two quick stops from Maschmeyer continued these offensive woes for New York. During the second period, New York was ahead in terms of shots on goal (11-8), but they were behind in what counts: the score.
Period 3
New York began the last period with a 90-second run on the power play. They were only one goal behind, so the window wasn’t exactly closed for the home team to make a comeback. But Ottawa’s defense was too much for New York, shutting them down for the next two minutes. Back 5-on-5, Savannah Norcross had a chance, but the shot went off Maschmeyer and deflected away from the net.
The game then took a physical turn as Vanisova crosschecked a vulnerable Abby Roque into the boards, erupting in a scrum between players on both teams. After some debriefing from the referees, Vanisova was given a 10-minute game misconduct as well as a 5-minute major boarding penalty, taking her out for the rest of the game. The penalty was served by Sammy Davis. On New York’s end, Jill Saulnier received a minor penalty for roughing.
After playing 4-on-4 for a while, NY had 3 minutes on the man-advantage to work with. The chance to score opened up even further once Ottawa’s Jincy Roese joined teammate Sammy Davis in the penalty box for interference. Now on the favored side of a 5-on-3, it was a prime opportunity for New York’s top players to step up and tie the game up. With not a single shot on goal, the power play did not go as planned, and NY was still struggling to crawl back into the game.
A few chances were exchanged between New York and Ottawa, but all hopes went down the drain with a heart-wrenching goal from Brianne Jenner with two minutes left, ending any chance of a New York win. Still, NY continued to fight, taking Levy off to get another player on the ice. But it only took 30 seconds for Ottawa’s Emily Clark to put this to rest, scoring on the empty net. All of a sudden, a one-goal deficit turned into a three-goal deficit.
New York’s winless streak extended to 7 games as they dropped this game to Ottawa by a score of 3-0.
Changes Needed For NY
While these losses are a group effort, one worrisome part of the team is their offense. The only time they have scored more than two goals during this combination of losses was once. New York also needs assistance from their top players. Their leader in points, Alex Carpenter, has not scored a goal during this horrid stretch. Furthermore, Ella Shelton has not scored since the game against Toronto that began the streak.
So, while the roster as a whole needs to band together to turn this season around, it is hard to achieve without the support of your leading players. New York’s next chance to show this is this Monday against PWHL Boston. They will be the home team yet again, playing at UBS Arena.
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- PWHL NY Winless Streak Extends to 7 in Loss to Ottawa - March 22, 2024
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