Battle on Bay Street attendance record headlines action
TORONTO, ON (February 19, 2024) – Here’s a look at highlights from the last week of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) season, plus a look ahead to this week’s action, beginning with Monday’s game between PWHL Ottawa and PWHL Boston at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell.
PWHL SETS ALL-TIME ATTENDANCE MARK IN ONE OF THREE STRAIGHT CANADIAN SELL-OUTS
A crowd of 19,285 packed Scotiabank Arena on Friday for the Battle on Bay Street between Toronto and Montréal, setting a new attendance record for a women’s hockey game. The number surpasses the crowd of 18,013 during the 2013 IIHF Women’s World Championship in Ottawa, and the previous pro record of 13,316 at Xcel Energy Center on Jan. 6 when Minnesota hosted Montréal. The game was the first of three straight sellouts and season-high attendances in Canadian markets. A crowd of 8,407 attended Saturday’s game between Ottawa and Minnesota at The Arena at TD Place, followed by 10,172 for Sunday’s game between Montréal and Minnesota at Place Bell. The league’s total attendance is 171,333 through 31 games for an average of 5,527.
BLACK HISTORY MONTH REFLECTIONS
Toronto forward Sarah Nurse and Saroya Tinker, PWHL Manager of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiatives & Community Engagement, are both leaders with Black Girl Hockey Club Canada — Tinker as its Co-Founder and Executive Director, and Nurse, who launched her ‘Nursey Night’ initiative on Friday in partnership with the organization to offer unique PWHL experiences to community members. They recently sat down with CBC Sports for a conversation about what it means to be a Black woman in the sport, and how they are mentoring young girls following in their footsteps. Also in celebration of Black History Month, TSN’s Raegan Subban sat down with Nurse and Sophie Jaques to discuss some of their historic accomplishments. Click here to watch. Back on Feb. 1, Tinker was part of a Black Girl Hockey Club Canada skate on the outdoor rink at Toronto’s Nathan Phillips Square as part of NHL All-Star events with Hockey Equality, and the Toronto Maple Leafs development program. Click here to watch.
FIRST PWHL GOALS
Six players scored their first career PWHL goals this past week, bringing the league’s total to 70 different goal scorers. The latest to record milestone markers were veterans Victoria Bach (TOR), Amanda Boulier (OTT), Kali Flanagan (TOR), and Sarah Lefort (MTL). First-year pros Jesse Compher (TOR), a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, and Maggie Flaherty (MIN), a University of Minnesota-Duluth graduate, also scored their first career PWHL goals. Bach scored on the big stage at Scotiabank Arena not far from her hometown of Milton, Boulier scored in Minnesota where she played four seasons with the PHF’s Whitecaps, and Flanagan scored in her hometown Boston where she played at the collegiate level and pro. Compher, Flaherty, and Lefort’s goals were all game winners on home ice.
2-1 SCORES DOMINATE RESULTS
Four of the league’s six games last week finished with 2-1 scores, including Minnesota over Ottawa at home on Feb. 14 and on the road on Feb. 17, New York against Boston in overtime on Feb. 17, and Montréal against Minnesota on Feb. 18. There have been eight 2-1 occurrences this season which have all transpired in 14 games since Jan. 24. It’s the second most frequent result overall behind nine 3-2 scores. Through 31 games this season, 20 have been one-goal games – 11 in overtime or shootout. See all results here.
BIG GOALS FOR CARPENTER AND ZUMWINKLE
Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle (3) and New York’s Alex Carpenter (2) are the only PWHL players who have scored multiple game-winning goals this season and delivered for their teams in 2-1 decisions on Saturday. Zumwinkle tallied back-to-back game-winners to open the season and scored the decisive goal in the final minute of the middle frame to beat Ottawa. Carpenter came through in the clutch for the second straight game by scoring the overtime winner in Boston. She’s the only player in the league with two overtime-winning goals.
HAT TRICK FOR SPOONER
Toronto’s Natalie Spooner became the fourth player in the PWHL to record a hat trick this season, scoring three goals in her team’s 5-3 victory over Boston on Valentine’s Day. The goals consisted of two tallies in the second period, including one on the powerplay, followed by an empty-net goal to seal the win. The performance made her the league’s first 10-goal scorer of the season. Spooner also leads the league with three power-play goals. Her hat trick follows Grace Zumwinkle (MIN) on Jan. 6, Marie-Philip Poulin (MTL) on Jan. 10, and Jade Downie-Landry (NY) on Jan. 20.
CARPENTER LEADS SCORING RACE
Alex Carpenter’s overtime winner for New York brought her season point total to 12, which includes six goals and six assists in 10 games. She also is tied for the league’s longest active point streak at three games. Natalie Spooner is second in league scoring with 11 points, including a league-leading 10 goals in 11 games for Toronto. Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle (7G 2A), Montréal’s Marie-Philip Poulin (6G 3A), New York’s Ella Shelton (3G 6A), and Boston’s Alina Müller (2G 7A) are in a four-way tie for third in scoring with nine points each. Shelton leads all defenders in scoring, while Müller and Zumwinkle lead the 2023 NCAA graduating class in points. Müller’s seven assists are tied for the league-lead with Montréal’s Maureen Murphy and Minnesota’s Kelly Pannek. See all points leaders here.
CAMPBELL AND CHULI STAY SOLID IN CREASE, FIVE WINS FOR HENSLEY AND SCHROEDER
Toronto’s Kristen Campbell had a season-high 32-save performance on Wednesday in Boston, and a 30-save shutout on Friday against Montréal to become the league’s first goaltender with six wins and two shutouts. Montréal’s Elaine Chuli made 21 saves in Sunday’s win over Minnesota to remain the only PWHL goaltender with a perfect record. Her fourth win in as many starts also carries a league-leading 1.24 goals-against-average and .961 save percentage. New York’s Corinne Schroeder (34 saves) and Minnesota’s Nicole Hensley (28 saves) were both victorious on Saturday to pick up their fifth wins of the season. They rank second and third in GAA and SV% behind Chuli. See goaltender stats here.
MINNESOTA LEADS STANDINGS
Minnesota (5-2-2-3) won two of their three games last week, including a pair of 2-1 victories over Ottawa, to reclaim first place in the standings with 21 points. Montréal (4-3-2-2) closed the gap with a big 2-1 win over Minnesota on Sunday to bring their second-place point total to 20. Toronto (5-1-0-5) beat Boston and Montréal in regulation to extend their league-high winning streak to four games and hold sole possession of third place with 17 points. New York (2-3-1-4) won their only game of the week in overtime against Boston and sit in fourth place with 13 points. Boston (2-2-2-3) earned a single point in two games and are fifth overall with 12 points. Ottawa (2-0-4-3) lost twice to extend their league-high losing streak to five games and remain in sixth place with 10 points. See the full standings here.
THE WEEK AHEAD
Action begins with a Monday holiday matinee in Boston as they take on Ottawa in a game re-scheduled from the Jan. 8 postponement. The teams will face-off again on Wednesday at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell. Also on Wednesday, New York returns to UBS Arena, where they will host Montréal for the second time this season. The weekend brings three more games, including New York’s third trip to Toronto on Friday at Mattamy Athletic Centre, Ottawa’s second trip to Montréal on Saturday at Verdun Auditorium, and Boston’s first trip to Minnesota on Sunday at Xcel Energy Center.
Monday, February 19, 2024
4:30 p.m. ET – Ottawa at Boston (Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell)
Linear TV: NESN, TSN4
Streaming: YouTube
Wednesday, February 21, 2024
7:00 p.m. ET – Ottawa at Boston (Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell)
Linear TV: NESN, TSN4/5, Sportsnet Pittsburgh
Streaming: YouTube
7:00 p.m. ET – Montréal at New York (UBS Arena)
Linear TV: MSG/MSGHD
Streaming: TSN+, Women’s Sports Network, YouTube,
French: RDS2
Friday, February 23, 2024
7:00 p.m. ET – New York at Toronto (Mattamy Athletic Centre)
Linear TV: TSN4, MSG/MSGHD
Streaming: YouTube
Saturday, February 24, 2024
2:30 p.m. ET – Ottawa at Montréal (Verdun Auditorium)
Linear TV: Sportsnet ONE, Sportsnet Pittsburgh
Streaming: Sportsnet+, YouTube
French: Radio-Canada, ICI TOU.TV
Sunday, February 25, 2024
4:00 p.m. ET – Boston at Minnesota (Xcel Energy Center)
Linear TV: Bally Sports North, NESN, Sportsnet 360
Streaming: Sportsnet+, YouTube
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