A few days after losing a heartbreaker on their home ice, PWHL New York will be back in action to face PWHL Boston on Sunday. The big thing about this game is the team from the Big Apple are on a four-game losing streak heading into this game and in last place in the PWHL standings.
The good news for PWHL New York is that the team they will face on Sunday are on a losing streak of their own, a two-game losing streak. The last time these two teams met was Feb. 17 and, on that day, PWHL New York earned a 2-1 victory thanks to Alex Carpenter's overtime goal.
However, since then PWHL NY have been on a major skid, earning just one shootout victory over five games. The good news is there are nine games left for PWHL New York to play in the PWHL season. Here are the three keys to them winning this next game.
Staying Out of the Penalty Box
New York took six penalties in their last game. That’s too many considering that the game before that they took only two. They need to give themselves a shot by staying out of the box. The last game their power play was on fire, scoring 3-of-6 opportunities and they go into this matchup with the second-best power play in the league. Meanwhile, Boston has the worst power play unit in the league. This is a huge advantage, if Howie Draper's team can exploit it. PWHL New York can exploit it by not taking many penalties and giving their power play a chance to decide this game.
PWHL New York Needs Secondary Scoring
It's not difficult to see that New York have a bit of a problem scoring at even strength. In their last five games dating back to Feb. 21, New York have scored just three even strength goals. Two players who have been at the top of their game all season long for New York have been Alex Carpenter and Ella Shelton. Shelton leads all PWHL defensemen with 12 points and Carpenter is tied for the most points among skaters with 17. However, it takes more than just two players to make a team's offense go: good teams have two or three lines that can score and championship teams have four.
Over the last six games, PWHL New York has not received the secondary scoring they need. This is evidenced by the fact that over PWHL NY's last five games, as a team they scored nine goals and their top scorers (Carpenter, Eldridge, Roque and Bourbonnais) scored five of them. This means that second- and third-line forwards like Jade Downie-Landry, Emma Woods and Chloe Aurard need to start producing for the PWHL New York offense to start moving in the right direction.
Don't be Satisfied with Star Power
It's not secret that PWHL New York have some big stars on their team. Alex Carpenter may be the biggest of them all but they also have Corinne Schroeder in net and Ella Shelton on the blue line. This writer and others at this site talk about them every week, but great teams have depth.
That depth comes in the form of players like Jade Downie-Landry, Emma Woods, and Chloe Aurard; three players who have produced decent offense but who can do more. the first time Downie-Landry played against Boston this season on Jan. 20, she scored a hat trick. She has one goal in the ten games since then.
PWHL New York's secondary scoring will have a chance to shine in their next game and they need to if this team is going to have a chance to make the playoffs. There are only nine games left on the schedule; can the real PWHL New York please stand up?
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