PWHL New York (17 points) will face PWHL Minnesota (30 points) on the road Saturday, looking to end a five-game winless streak.
It's been a rocky road lately for PWHL New York, and they come into Minnesota to face the third-place team in the Professional Women's Hockey League, hobbling. That is because PWHL New York has not won a game since Feb. 21. In their last game, the New Yorkers faced a team in PWHL Boston that was just one place ahead of New York in the standings coming in, but PWHL New York lost to them in overtime.
It may be a silver lining that New York has taken two teams to overtime during this winless streak, but Howie Draper's team needs two points every time they take the ice from here on out with only eight games left in the season. Here are some keys to returning to the win column when they take the ice against PWHL Minnesota on the road.
Avoid Taking Penalties
PWHL New York is having some issues defending as a team, as evidenced by the fact that New York was outshot 46-23 by Boston in their last game. What New York needs to do to avoid compounding this problem is STAY OUT OF THE PENALTY BOX! They did an excellent job of not taking too many penalties (three) against Boston, but the risk was low because they were facing the worst power-play unit in the league.
This time out, they are facing PWHL Minnesota, with a slightly higher power play percentage than PWHL Boston, coming in at 9.8 percent. That's not good, but PWHL New York can't afford to shoot themselves in the foot in this game. Not with Grace Zumwinkle lining up on the other side. Zumwinkle comes into this game on a four-game point streak and has scored a power-play goal on March 13. In addition to Zumwinkle, PWHL Minnesota's Kelly Pannek and Kendall Coyne Schofield come into this game on point streaks. Minnesota has a dangerous offense and PWHL New York will do well not to give it opportunities to hurt them on the man advantage.
Win the First Period
The last time PWHL New York played a solid first period was against PWHL Minnesota on Mar. 3. It was solid because they held PWHL Minnesota off the scoresheet in the first period. PWHL Minnesota went on to win the game, but New York had a fighting chance because they came out of the gates strong.
In this game, it is imperative that New York not only hold PWHL Minnesota off the scoresheet in the first period but also that they score. PWHL New York has not been the team to score first in a game since Feb. 21-- that's five games ago. That was also the last time PWHL New York won a game.
Alex Carpenter's 18 points lead all PWHL forwards in scoring this season. Look for her to set the tone on Saturday, but PWHL New York will need all of its forwards to start chipping in offensively, if they're going to turn their season around. During their last game, Elizabeth Giguere scored her first goal of the year, but PWHL New York will need their depth forwards to step up if they're going to have a shot against a strong Minnesota defense on Saturday.
When a team has gone five games without winning, they need to start the right way, and this is how Draper's squad needs to start their next game.
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