The Green and Silver at Tsongas fall to Toronto in a maddening game.
Stop me if you’ve ever heard this one; a Boston team lost a game because their offense came alive too late and defensive breakdowns by otherwise perfectly good players put them in a hole too steep to climb out of.
It’s nice to know both sides of the game in this area are getting the same issues. Really makes it feel universal.
Game Highlights:
Game Notes:
- The PWHL does not release their TOI stats publically. That said, I saw quite a bit of Megan Keller and Hilary Knight tonight.
- Hey, let’s see if this rings a bell; a Boston team does everything they can, absolutely dominates possession and play for the most part, gets a million shots but no rebounds or nobody is there for the 2nd chance opportunity, and then the other team charges right up ice, gets a great chance in transition, and scores. It does? Well, that’s what happened in Lowell tonight; Boston absolutely crushed Toronto in shots, and Kristen Campbell decided that she was going to be an unbelievable tender tonight right up until it became too late to matter. She gave Toronto every opportunity to win; and Boston simply could not convert good chance after good chance.
- Soderberg had a rough night, but in fairness, this game should’ve been an easier time had any of Boston’s opportunities gone their way. Boston shot from just about everywhere, and a critical component of their struggle came from the lack of attacking rebounds and second chance opportunities. They had Toronto’s defense beat several times, and couldn’t find a chance to really test this defense in a way that mattered. Give them credit, they showed up ready to skate, but the dam probably shouldn’t have broke by the third period. Gonna need a little more danger in these chances.
- Gotta give Toronto credit; Natalie Spooner and Sarah Nurse are a dynamite pair of forwards, and they proved why they earned their spots on Team Canada. Spooner in particular was a terror thanks to a hat trick.
- It’s a Good thing Hannah Brandt got on the scoreboard, because boy. I have got some words for the US-born Olympians on this team if this continues. A couple of real marquis names are getting eclipsed badly and that’s not a good thing. Thankfully, Boston’s bizarre schedule means they have plenty of time to recuperate and break whatever funk they’re in by the end of the month.
- Sophie Shirley got banged up on an awkward hit that put her into the curved glass by the benches. Mercifully she was able to get off the ice under her own power, but there’s no word yet on whether or not she has longer-term injury concerns. We’ll keep you posted, and hope that it’s nothing serious.
- Imagine getting to go to this game for a date night where you spend most of it agitated and disappointed. Hopefully any couples in the audience had a lovely time afterwards.
Boston gets a couple of days off, and then gets a shot to get themselves back into it with New York on Saturday. That game drops the puck at 4:30pm EST