NWHL Day 4 Takeaways: Toronto gets historic win, Minnesota takes first

The Toronto Six picked up their first win in franchise history, beating the Boston Pride 2-1.

Are you not entertained?

Tuesday’s slate of NWHL contests from Lake Placid looked awful familiar to Saturday with goalies standing on their heads and depth proving key in two tight contests.

Minnesota took down the Riveters in the highly-anticipated contest to decide who would be the last team standing with a perfect record -- and they did so in dramatic fashion.

The Toronto Six earned their first win as a franchise with a come-from-behind stunner to beat Boston in the third period behind outstanding goaltending and a fantastic rookie effort.

Minnesota Whitecaps (3-0-0) 1, Metropolitan Riveters (2-1-0) 0

Goals
MIN: Haley Mack

Key takeaway: Goaltending. If the past few days haven’t been an indicator of goalie talent in the NWHL, Tuesday’s match between the Whitecaps and Riveters highlighted it.

Amanda Leveille, following a five-goal output from the Six on Sunday, earned her first shutout of the tournament with 38 saves, including 15 in the third period.

Sonjia Shelly of the Riveters was close to notching her second shutout; she posted a zero against Toronto in her Metropolitan debut on Saturday.

She was near perfect again on Tuesday, the only shot getting past her coming on a 5-on-3 for Minnesota following two late Riveters penalties.

With only 10.5 seconds left in regulation, it was heartbreak for the Riveters.

It was hardly Shelly’s fault, and Riveters fans should be thrilled with how well she’s performed in the most action she’s ever had at the NWHL level.

“I’ve been feeling really good about myself,” she said. “I’ve been seeing the puck and moving well.”

At the other end, Leveille’s play has been one of the highlights of the entire tournament. She exits Tuesday with a .946 save percentage, a strong number even with the rough outing on Sunday.

The goalies might be a step ahead as far as shaking off the rust, or perhaps that’s too much of a generalization. Either way, they have been stellar across the board.

Leveille’s shutout was the sixth of her career, the most in league history, and her 30th win as a member of the Whitecaps.

Player of the Game -- Haley Mack, Minnesota: Mack stood out in Sunday’s shootout win over Toronto with a goal in regulation and the shootout winner.

The rookie appears to have one-upped herself.

With her tap-in on the 5-on-3 power play with 10.5 seconds left in the third period, Mack earned the Whitecaps their third win and has them as the last team standing in the undefeated department.

Rookies have succeeded in bulk across the entire league during the bubble, but Mack has been an obvious standout. She notched five shots, all of them on goal, in addition to her tally, her second of the season.

Her fellow rookie, defender Maddie Rowe, has been a standout the entire season and blocked an additional four shots on the other end of the blue line.

Of note, Riveters defender Kiira Dosdall-Arena was recorded as having the most shots on goal in the game with eight.

What’s next: Minnesota will get more rest on Wednesday to prepare for a matchup with the upstart Connecticut Whale on Thursday.

Thus far, the Whitecaps have three one-goal wins; some might argue that’s unsustainable, and the shot output from the Whale has been surprising, so that’s an entire new challenge.

Metropolitan, meanwhile, face their rival Beauts from the 2018 Isobel Cup on Wednesday. The Beauts last played on Sunday, surrendering five goals to the Pride and have only tallied twice all season.

Metro will be hungry following this difficult loss, but the Beauts are desperate to prove they can put the puck in the net, too.

Toronto Six 2 (1-1-1), Boston Pride 1 (1-2-0)

Goals
BOS: Christina Putigna
TOR: Mikyla Grant-Mentis, Brooke Boquist

Key takeaway: In 2019-20, the Pride never had a second loss.

In the 2021 bubble, it took just three games to get it.

Last year it sure felt like it was a given the Pride would show up to the rink and be in a position to win at the end.

Against Minnesota on Saturday it looked like they had a lot of rust, and they were unlucky to run into a hot goalie in Amanda Leveille; head coach Paul Mara said that if they had played anyone else, it would have been 5-2 or 6-2.

Toronto goalie Elaine Chuli might have put that theory to rest on Tuesday.

Chuli made 24 saves, essentially shutting the Pride offence down after their lone power play goal from Putigna in the first period.

What really buried Boston, though, were the penalties.

The Pride took six penalties and got burnt on the 5-on-3 when Boquist tied things up in the third period. The winner was scored by Grant-Mentis, who is on a tear unlike any other player in the league right now.

Boston's loss on Saturday could be attributed to sloppiness after months away, but Tuesday was about a lot of flaws from the Pride between penalties -- they’ve now allowed two penalty shot attempts against -- and a lack of cohesiveness on offence. They only fired off eight shots on goal in the third period.

Pride captain Jillian Dempsey went down awkwardly on her left arm late in the third period, but remained on the bench, though she didn’t return to the game.

Player of the Game -- Brooke Boquist, Toronto It feels unfair to leave Grant-Mentis out of this conversation, but we’ve highlighted her a ton so far, and Boquist looked tremendous on Tuesday night.

The rookie nabbed her first career goal on a 5-on-3 to tie the game for Toronto and give Grant-Mentis the chance to put them ahead en route to their first ever win.

Boquist led the team with five shots on goal in Toronto’s historic first ever franchise win, and her tying tally came at the key moment.

Boston has historically won by crushing spirits. Toronto, a team with tons of inexperience in the NWHL and against a power like the Pride, stuck with it and the moment didn’t become too big.

That’s impressive for a rookie like Boquist.

What’s next: Boston has a date with the Whale on Wednesday night in a rematch of last season’s semi-final, which the Pride took to advance to the Isobel Cup Final.

Following a loss to Toronto in a contest where they were banged up, facing an energized Whale club on rest could be a test for Boston.

Toronto sits out Wednesday but faces the Beauts -- their cross-border rival -- for the first time on Thursday, following Buffalo’s Wednesday contest with the Riveters.

The Six will certainly be flying high off their first ever win, they probably regret having to sit out a day. Either way, they’ll have rest against a Beauts team that will no doubt be coming off a tough contest with the Rivs.


Tuesday’s double header in the NWHL bubble was clouded by harassment directed towards NWHL reporters, fans and staffers after the CEO of Barstool Sports, Erika Nardini, posted a video to social media calling them out for criticizing the company's links to the league.

In an evening press release, commissioner Ty Tumminia did her best to stand up for those affected by the issue.

“On behalf of the NWHL, I would like to respond to the video posted last night by a media platform about the NWHL, investment, fan engagement and coverage,” Tumminia said. “As Commissioner, my top priority is to protect, promote and reinforce the values of the NWHL and its players. First and foremost, we must remain inclusive and empowering for women. The success of our movement hinges on respect, opportunity, and a strong sense of connectedness across our players, teams, staff, fans, partners and avid supporters. Let’s keep the focus on our athletes and build on the momentum created in the first few exciting days here in Lake Placid.

“There is no circumstance where it would be acceptable to call out many of the reporters, staff members and fans who have given so much to women’s hockey, especially knowing that these people could be targeted or harassed on social media.”

Tumminia later held a media availability where she was challenged on the involvement of players who participated in the events that led to the harmful post.

“Just reiterating our vision and my objective to staff,” she said to reporters. “I’m here to support them in any way they need and going forward to rise above. Some of the stuff that’s happening, the main message for me was to be one of protection and backing. I’m here to serves as the person that will make sure going forward we don’t have these type of situations.”

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