With the Whale and the Beauts given a week off, all eyes were turned to the top of the table clash between Boston and New York. Both sides had been undefeated in 2017 before the puck dropped, but only one streak could continue. The match saw the return of the NWHL’s highest paid player, Amanda Kessel, who has missed the majority of the season due to injury.
Results:
Boston Pride 2 – 1 New York Riveters
Three Stars:
3rd Star – Janine Weber (New York Riveters, 1G)
Going into the third period only 1-0 down to Boston was probably a situation that New York wouldn’t have been too upset with. Janine Weber tied things up, converting on the powerplay late in the game to give her team a good shot at forcing overtime.
Here's Janine Weber/@j9weber15's gorgeous bottle-popping wrister from last night's @NYRiveters game. Her 4th goal of the season. #NWHL pic.twitter.com/AGN6ywvidt
— Mike Murphy (@DigDeepBSB) January 22, 2017
2nd Star – Lauren Slebodnick (Boston Pride, 21 Saves)
You would think if Boston’s main starter in Brittany Ott wasn’t in net that Boston would hope that it might get a little easier for them in the scoring department. You would think wrong as Slebodnick has proven that she is a force to be reckoned with, putting up a 0.955% save percentage and firmly cementing herself as the second best goalie in the league.
1st Star – Megan Dugan (Boston Pride, 1G)
The last time these two teams met, a shootout had to decide the winner. With less than a minute to go this time, it looked like overtime was inevitable. However, Dugan had other plans as she netted her 5th of the season with just 13 seconds left in the game to snatch the win on the road.
Honourable Mentions:
Alex Carpenter assisted on Dugan’s goal, now making her the league leader for goals, assists and points.
Hillary Knight continued to make up for lost time as she scored a second goal after returning to the line-up last week.
Returning to the Rivs, Amanda Kessel notched up an assist. New York are going to be overjoyed with the offensive firepower she brings to the team.
Not So Honourable Mentions:
Courtney Burke was -2 on the night and spent two minutes in the penalty box.
Boston Pride’s powerplay was 0 for 4 on an off-night.
Boston now sit just one win away from securing the regular season title with 20 points: double what New York has in second. The Rivs will be heartbroken that they were unable to at least take a point from this game, but can be content in the fact that they retain their second place in the league. If they continue to play like they did on Saturday, they should have no problem holding onto it, come the end of the season.
