For the first time in seven weeks, there is a gameday for the Connecticut Whale, as they would face off against the Minnesota Whitecaps in the semifinals of the Isobel Cup playoffs. Here is how the two teams would line up:
In the first period, both teams would come out flying to try and establish momentum. However, it would be the Whitecaps who would get the first goal of the game. Audra Richards had the puck behind the net and fed it to Schmid, who was open in the slot and got it past Ives. The Whale thought that they had tied the game up, as Kayla Friesen got a shot passed Leveille. The call on the ice was a goal; however, after further review, the referees waved off the goal. The Whitecaps would then double their lead, as former speedskater Allie Thunstrom got a pair of breakaways. Ives stopped the first one but wasn’t able to keep the second one out of the back of the net.
In the second period, the blitz was on, as the Whitecaps would add another goal. This time the goal coming from Audra Richards who finished off a beautiful 2 on 1 feed from Nina Rodgers. Four minutes later, the Whitecaps would get another one, this time it would come from Haley Mack, who received a beautiful feed from below the net on the backdoor from Nina Rodgers. It’s her second point of the game, and Stephanie Anderson would also get a assist on the play. Then, before you could say 35 seconds later, Audra Richards would finish off another 2 on 1 feed to grab her second goal of the game and her third point of the night. The assist on the play coming from Nina Rodgers, her third point of the game.
In the third period, Connecticut would come out flying trying to get on the scoreboard. Leveille would have all the answers, standing on her head and making saves on her belly, and keeping the Whale off the board. The Whale would get the first power play of the game but fail to convert on it. Late in the game, a turnover in the neutral zone and a bad change by the Whale, led to a 2 on 0 break for the Whitecaps, it was converted by Allie Thunstrom, the beautiful feed coming from Jonna Curtis, and the turnover created by Nina Rodgers. Shortly after, a crazy bounce off a Whale defender would find it’s way past Ives, the goal coming from Audra Richards, completing her hat trick.
Abbie Ives would face 30 shots and made 23 saves, versus Amanda Leveille would face 44 shots and stop every Whale shot for the shutout.
Tomorrow at 7p, the Minnesota Whitecaps will face off against the Boston Pride in the Isobel Cup finals. It a matchup that was supposed to happen last season before Covid shut everything down.
Here is the boxscore of the game tonight:
https://www.nwhl.zone/stats#/100/game/378721/boxscore
TXHT will continue to provide NWHL coverage as more signings and news are announced.
Sponsored by:
One thought on “NWHL Gameday – Whitecaps Roll Over The Whale”