2021 NWHL Season Thread

[JMCx4]

Connecticut take 2 consecutive minors in the last 5 minutes of the 1st, but kill them both with good defensive play & some disorganization by Toronto.

 

[JMCx4]

End of one period, Six 0 - Whale 0. Toronto had 11 SOGs vs. Connecticut's 7. CTW had the offensive edge in the 1st half of the period, but Toronto picked up their game in the 2nd half with the help of the two power plays.

 

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Eight minutes left in the 2nd, Toronto forward Amy Curlew deflects a backhand shot over the shoulder of CTW goalie Abbie Ives and the Six lead 1-0.

 

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And on a power play with about 5 minutes left in the 2nd, Toronto extends their lead to 2-0 with a goal by forward Taylor Woods (her fourth in The Bubble).

 

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The Whale kill off their second minor penalty late in the middle period (4 shorthanded situations for the game), to keep the Toronto lead @ 2-0.

End of two periods, TOR 2- CTW 0. The Six now leading 27-14 in SOGs for the game, and they've done a good job clogging up the front of the Connecticut goal to block Abbie Ives' views of the puck. The Whale need to stay out of the box & focus on transition play to get more offensive opportunities.

 

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Less than 2 minutes into the 3rd, a Toronto shot from the point missed the net but forward MacKenzie MacNeill grabbed the puck & scored a wrap-around for a 3-0 lead.

 

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CTW forward Janine Weber injured in subsequent play when a Six players fell on her leg behind the end redline. She hobbled off with the help of her teammates.

 

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MacNeill scores her second of the night & the season with 16 minutes left in regulation, giving TOR a 4-0 lead.

 

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And we now see the NWHL's Bubble EBUG (signed today by CTW) Mariah Fujimagari in the Whale goal.

 

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T-Six forwards Taytum Clairmont and Mikyla Grant-Mentis each score to make the score 6-0. Still 7 minutes to go.

 

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The Whale had a brief PP inside 2 minutes left, but could not redeem themselves with a goal.

 

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Final horn sounds, not soon enough for Connecticut. Final Score = TOR 6 – CTW 0. Ugly 3rd period for Connecticut, beautiful one for Toronto.

So with their second round-robin victory, the NWHL’s newest franchise – the first in Canada – the Toronto Six have clinched the 1st seed for the NWHL 2021 playoffs. Their opponent for the Thursday night Semifinals (to be broadcast on NBCSN) will be the winner of the Monday night play-in game between Boston & Buffalo. Connecticut meets Minnesota tomorrow evening to determine the #2 & #3 seedings.

ETA: League wrap ...
WHALE STILL FIGHTING FOR NO. 2 SPOT

 

[Roadhog]

Neither will be easy, but I hope they get Buffalo on Thursday.

 

[JMCx4]

Yeah, but for pure excitement & hockey tradition, TOR v BOS would kick ice.

 

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Monday night's Bubble Hockey match-ups in beautiful Lake Placid, NY ...

• Minnesota, Connecticut competing for home ice advantage (5:30 PM EST)

• Playoff berth on the line for Buffalo, Boston (8:30 PM EST)

 

[JMCx4]

Per the mod on the Twitch Chat stream: "I'm not sure how else I can phrase 'there is no official announcement from the league' - I have all the same info that you do - which is simply this: the stream is not yet live."

ETA ...

 

[JMCx4]

More from SBNation's The Ice Garden blog ...

Tonight’s game between the Whale and Whitecaps has been postponed

Update from the NWHL expected tomorrow

By Mike Murphy@DigDeepBSB
Feb 1, 2021, 5:47pm EST

Tonight’s game between the Connecticut Whale and the Minnesota Whitecaps has been postponed. The game was originally scheduled to take place at 5:30 p.m. ET.

The outcome of tonight’s game was moot in terms of its impact on who the Whale and Whitecaps would meet in the Isobel Cup Semifinals. Because the Toronto Six went 2–0–0 in the seeding round, they have claimed the top seed in the playoffs. The Whale and Whitecaps will play each other in the Semifinals regardless of the outcome of tonight’s postponed game or the outcome of the 8:30 p.m. ET game between the Beauts and Pride.

Matt Porter of the Boston Globe, who is on site in Lake Placid, reported that the Whale did not show up to the rink for warmups. Speculation ensued — much of it focused on the addition of four players by the Whale and other teams that have added players — as to the Whale’s absence being COVID-related. Marisa Ingemi, who is covering Lake Placid for Sportsnet, noted that the delay could be related to the blizzard, which is impacting the northeast. Per Ingemi, the league drives its COVID tests to New Haven, Conn.

It’s worth mentioning that the Whale were missing several players from their lineup on Monday night — all categorized as “unavailable” by Connecticut’s coaching staff — including defender Tori Howran, forward Kayla Friesen, and goaltender Brooke Wolejko. Veteran NWHLer Janine Weber also sustained an injury in last night’s game after a collision with Toronto Six defender Lindsay Eastwood. ...

The 8:30 p.m. ET game between the Beauts and Pride will still be taking place tonight and can be seen streaming live on twitch.tv/nwhl. ...


Read more at: Tonight’s game between the Whale and Whitecaps has been postponed

 

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Official announcement of the Whale vs. Caps postponement ...

 

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Game #3 of the best-of-3 play-in between the Boston Pride & the Buffalo Beauts is a GO.

 

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Game announcers just relayed a League follow-up announcement: Connecticut has forfeited their round-robin game vs. Minnesota (the scheduled 5:30 PM game today), and withdrawn from The Bubble. That makes the on-going BUF vs BOS game a seeding game for the semifinals. LOTS of zigging & zagging on AND off the ice.

 

[JMCx4]

Boston rookie forward Sammy Davis gives them a 1-0 lead @ 9:00 left in the 1st period. And Boston also moved to a PP, plus another BUF penalty on the ensuing face-off. 5-on-3 for the Pride. And it's 2-0 Boston, with the second goal going to Jillian Dempsey.

 

[JMCx4]

Sammy Davis scores her second, in a two-on-one play fed by McKenna Brand. 3-o Pride with 3 minutes left in Period 1.

 

[JMCx4]

End of the first period, BUF 0 - BOS 3. The Pride picked up where they left off with their dominant play from last night, and scored two of three with Buffalo shorthanded. The best offensive chance the Beauts had was a breakaway by forward Kristin Lewicki with about 5 minutes left, but Boston goalie Lovisa Selander got a piece of the shot with her catcher to send it past the net.

 

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Boston kills off a Buffalo PP early in the 2nd. Still 3-0.

 

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When we come back from break, there's gonna be a determination made on whether the Beauts scored their first goal. Long sequence of play after the event. We'll see.