Turnovers tanked PWHL New York in their 3-2 loss to Montreal, which saw the home team show off their dance moves following the win.
Turnovers tanked PWHL New York in their 3-2 loss to Montreal, which saw the home team show off their dance moves following the win.
Watching PWHL New York, they're a fast and physical team. The excitement they bring to the ice however, is sometimes overshadowed by the risks they take, and the highs and lows of their momentum.
That was evident again in Tuesday's 3-2 loss to PWHL Montreal in front of 6334 fans at Place Bell in Laval, Quebec.
Montreal opened the game with two goals only 17 seconds apart, but New York managed to claw back on goals from Jaime Bourbonnais and Jessie Eldridge. In the third, Montreal capitalized on what has become an issue for New York, a turnover, and captain Marie-Philip Poulin potted the winner.
Turnovers Tanking New York Early
It was only a matter of time before a turnover ended up in the back of PWHL New York's net. Primarily, those turnovers were coming off the wall in their own zone, and in high danger zones within feet of their own blueline and the offensive blueline.
It was a mix of soft plays with the puck and a lack of support, but primarily, New York seemed to be putting pucks into spaces where only Montreal players resided, and they were panicking under pressure.
New York will greatly benefit from the return of Micah Zandee-Hart as a calming force on their back end.
The team is one of the quickest in the PWHL, but they're often already barreling up ice getting well ahead of pucks, sacrificing team defence in hopes of quick start offense.
The game winning goal came after a string of turnovers, where Emma Woods looked to find a supporting teammate off the board in her defensive zone, only to put the puck directly onto the stick of Montreal's Maureen Murphy, who quickly spotted Marie-Philip Poulin who beat Abbey Levy for the go ahead goal.
Discipline Becoming An Issue
Having an identity as a tough team to play against is one item, taking undisciplined penalties in the name of being "tough" is another. New York has walked that line and often crossed it early on.
Abby Roque took a pair of penalties in the game that were outside of competing for pucks. Although her first drew a coincidental with Marie-Philip Poulin, her third period roughing call was off the play and allowed Montreal to hold momentum longer in the final frame leading up to Poulin's winner.
Through five games, New York has 40 minutes in penalties.
One issue with penalties in this game and early in the PWHL season is there has been little consistency in terms of body checking rules and what "is" and "is not" a penalty. Players are embracing the more physical game, but there have been numerous incidents in the opening games that were blatant penalties in any league in the world, men's or women's, that have gone uncalled. The league's body checking rules seem hazy, particularly in interpretation and implementation.
No Handshake, But Plenty Of Dancing
One thing was noticeably absent following Montreal's win, a handshake line. Through the first 10 games of the season, a handshake line became the norm in the PWHL, breaking from men's hockey tradition to form a new sign of camaraderie and solidarity in the PWHL. Following this game, New York left the ice, and Montreal players who turned to join their opponents at center ice were visibly confused that no handshake would be occurring. New York stated following the game that this was a league mandate, but it was obviously one that Montreal players did not receive.
Instead, Montreal began a memorable celebration filled with dancing.
On the ice, players like Mariah Keopple broke into dance early in the celebration, and a group of four Montreal players joined in a group dance at center ice to the delight of captain Marie-Philip Poulin who could visibly be seen laughing and smiling following the game. For the fans on hand, and the players on the ice, it turned into a festive atmosphere following the win.