On Saturday, Howie Draper's PWHL NY team will face Boston for their second straight game on the road with puck drop set for 4:00 pm.
PWHL New York got off to a horrendous start in their last game against Ottawa. Draper's team found themselves in a 3-0 hole when at 5:06 remaining in the third period something clicked.
What clicked wasn't flashy, or a great display of skill. It was PWHL New York forward Abby Roque going to the net with her stick on the ice and tapping in a shot-pass from her teammate, defenseman Jamie Bourbonnais.
That got the New Yorkers going and they came back to win the game 4-3 in overtime. The winning goal courtesy of PWHL New York's forward, Alex Carpenter, who currently is tied for league lead in points (11) and leads her team in goals (5) while being tied with Ella Shelton for the most assists (6). Wow!
PWHL New York Must Start Hot
There's a saying that goes "strike when the iron is hot." It was in a Pink Floyd song. It means to strike when the conditions are ripe for it and PWHL New York can make sure the conditions are right to get off to at least a better start than they did in their most recent game, in their next game up in Boston at the Tsongas Center.
The good news is that it's been 13 days (nearly two weeks) since PWHL NY's overtime win over Ottawa. This means that Draper's squad had plenty of times to get rid of the All-Star break jitters and iron out any kinks in practice and now it's time for them to be ready from puck-drop on Saturday.
PWHL Boston and New York
Saturday's game will be the second meeting of the season between these close, geographic rivals and New York shut down Boston in that first meeting of this inaugural PWHL season, winning by a score of 4-1.
Ironically, that game saw New York start out the opposite way that they started out their most recent game. In mid-January against Boston, Jade Downie-Landry got New York on the board in the first period before Jessie Eldridge scored and Downie-Landry added a second, to give the New Yorkers a commanding 3-0 lead.
Boston's leading point scorer on the season, Alina Muller (9 points) was held to just one assist and behind Corinne Schroeder's goaltending, New York cruised to a 4-1 win. However, that was Jan. 20 and this is nearly a month later. Before pulling off a four-goal comeback in Ottawa on Feb. 4, New York were on a two-game skid.
Boston and New York are tied with 11 points each in the standings. This is a very important game for PWHL New York to make sure they come out strong and take control of the game early on. PWHL New York's top offensive players have been Carpenter, Jessie Eldridge and Jade Downie Landry as well as defender Ella Shelton. If New York's stallions roll hot out of the gates then the team from the 'BIG APPLE' will be in good shape.
The Goaltending Matchup
This is an interesting matchup to watch because both goalies are off to very good starts in their first PWHL seasons. In fact, since Schroeder and Boston's No. 1 Aerin Frankel have each played at least five games, I'd argue they have been the best starting goaltenders in the league this season.
Frankel comes in sporting a sparkling 1.91 goals-against-average (GAA) and .927 Save percentage while Schroeder has a better SV % but a slightly worse GAA (1.98). As Robin Williams said once, 'We're splitting hairs here!' Both Frankel and Schroeder have been the two most consistently good goalies in the league this season. So it will be fun to watch these two stellar netminders put their paddles to the metal on Saturday night.
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