For the final time of the Professional Women's Hockey League regular season, PWHL New York faced off with PWHL Montreal. New York came into this road game in last place and ten points out of the final playoff spot. Montreal were in second and had the opportunity to clinch a playoff berth with a win, while New York faced elimination from the playoffs if they lost, making this a high-stakes game, indeed.
The game started well for the visitors, who peppered Montreal's goal with 14 shots in the first period. However, New York was unable to capitalize, and a bad break put them behind. Montreal's Catherine Daoust attempted a dump, but the puck caromed off the boards and into the open net, which #30 Corinne Schroeder had left to play the puck. New York had three power play opportunities in the first period and outshot Montreal 14-to-6 but couldn't score on any of them.
Montreal went to work on a power play at 8:04 of the second period. Kristin O'Neill received a pass at the side of the net and took the puck right in front of Schroeder, who made the first stop, but O'Neill stuffed in her own rebound to give Montreal a 2-1 lead.
One of the biggest faults for New York in this game was the inability of their defensemen to defend in front of their own net. This reared its ugly head for the second time when a shot came in from the point, and Brooke Hobson lost her battle with Catherine Dubois. Dubois was able to step in behind Hobson and swat the rebound out of the air and into the net to give Montreal a 3-0 lead.
Two minutes later, at 14:46, Laura Stacey scored a one-timer on the power play to stretch the hosts' lead to four. New York refused to be shutout though and #17 Ella Shelton made sure of that, scoring on a breakaway with 13 seconds left in the second period.
That breakaway goal though...😮💨 pic.twitter.com/BeyEHQCpwJ
— PWHL New York (@PWHL_NewYork) April 25, 2024
At 14:28 of the third period, New York's #71 Savanna Norcross took a boarding penalty. It looked like it was all over for New York when #13 Alexandra Labelle picked up a loose puck behind Montreal's net and managed to score a jailbreak goal, which gave New York some life.
First ever PWHL goal and it's a jail break?! Go off Lab 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/v7RlLkV7sA
— PWHL New York (@PWHL_NewYork) April 25, 2024
However, the climb to coming all the way back even from two goals down at that point, would prove too steep for New York. New York pulled their goalie to create a man advantage for the final five minutes of the game, but Montreal's defense stood tall, blocking shots and winning 50-50 battles before they scored the empty netter to win the game 5-2.
The story of this game can be found by looking at how each team fared on its special teams. New York didn't score on any of their five power play opportunities, while Montreal went 2-4. Despite the score being lopsided, New York actually outshot Montreal 33-25.
With the loss, PWHL New York is now eliminated from competing in the PWHL playoffs, which will begin in May. Their next game is on April 28 at 1:00 PM against PWHL Toronto at UBS Arena.
Be sure to check out JerseySportingNews.com all season long for more PWHL Coverage.
- News from the Red Bull Farm: The big picture with the Baby Bulls - May 2, 2024
- Game 23: PWHL New York VS PWHL Ottawa Preview: Break the Losing Streak - April 29, 2024
- Giants Secondary Gets Upgrade on Draft Day Two - April 27, 2024
