Prudential Center welcomes the PWHL as New York battles Boston to stay in playoff race
NEWARK, NJ (April 20, 2024) – The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) continues its busiest day of the regular-season that features three games, including a Saturday afternoon matchup between New York and Boston, at 3:30 p.m. at Prudential Center.
WHERE TO WATCH
Fans in the United States can watch the game live on MSG2 and on NESN+. The game will also be streamed on the league’s YouTube channel. Clay Matvick will have the play-by-play call alongside analyst David Starman.
TODAY’S PLAYOFF CLINCHING SCENARIOS
Toronto needs just one point to officially clinch a berth in the PWHL Playoffs which they can earn by virtue of a win or an overtime/shootout loss against Montréal. They can also clinch if Boston does not beat New York in regulation. Montréal can clinch with a win over Toronto combined with a New York win over Boston. They can also clinch if they beat Toronto in regulation and Boston earns two points or less against New York. Minnesota has three ways they can clinch their playoff spot including a win over Ottawa in regulation, a win over Ottawa in overtime or shootout combined with Boston earning two points or less against New York, or if they lose in overtime or a shootout to Ottawa but Boston also loses to New York in any fashion.
TODAY AT PRUDENTIAL CENTER
It’s a celebration of Pride today at Prudential Center, home of the New Jersey Devils, which becomes the seventh NHL venue to host the PWHL this season. Everyone is welcome for a Pride Mixer pre-game in the Prudential Lounge with a photobooth, sign making table, Pride trivia, and giveaways such as pins, stickers, flags, and sunglasses. The NJ LGBTQ Film Festival will be tabling on the concourse. A number of youth hockey programs will be in attendance including Anthem Buddies the Jr. Flyers and Bench Buddies from Devils Youth Hockey.
Today isn’t the first time professional women’s hockey will be played at Prudential Center. The Isobel Cup was awarded at the RWJBarnabas Health Hockey House during the inaugural 2015-16 PHF season to the Boston Pride – a team that featured PWHL Boston’s Hilary Knight, Gigi Marvin, and Amanda Pelkey. The PHF’s Metropolitan Riveters also celebrated an Isobel Cup title at Barnabas in 2018 with a team that featured PWHL New York’s Alexa Gruschow and Madison Packer. The Riveters also hosted season opening games at Prudential Center on October 28, 2017, and October 20, 2018.
WELCOME HOME / FAREWELL FOR THE WORLDS
A total of 10 players from these two teams represented their countries at the 2024 IIHF Women’s World Championship in Uitca, NY. New York’s Jaime Bourbonnais and Ella Shelton are back in action with gold medals wrapped around their necks having enjoyed success with Team Canada alongside Boston’s Jamie Lee Rattray. New York’s Alex Carpenter and Boston’s Aerin Frankel, Megan Keller, and Hilary Knight return with silver medals earned as members of Team USA. Boston’s Susanna Tapani also comes home with hardware having won bronze with Finland. Boston goaltender Emma Söderberg competed for Sweden, and forward Alina Müller with Switzerland. Boston head coach Courtney Kessel also won gold behind the bench for Canada where she served as an assistant coach.
While one World Championship ends, another begins with the IIHF Division IA starting Sunday in Klagenfurt, Austria. Three players from the PWHL are listed on rosters including Boston forward Theresa Schafzahl who will represent the host country Austria. New York forward Chloe Aurard is competing for France, and defender Taylor Baker will play for Hungary – departing after today’s game. The tournament also includes Korea, Netherlands, and Norway with the two finalists to be promoted to the 2025 top division.
SETTING THE STAGE
Today’s matchup has undoubtedly been circled on the calendar for both teams since they locked horns in the final game before the International Break back on Mar. 25. The stakes are at an all-time high for both teams looking to stay in playoff contention with Boston (5-4-2-9) in fifth place with 25 points, just two back of Ottawa, and New York (3-4-3-9) still in the mix with 20 points despite their current sixth place standing. New York entered the break on a high note with a 3-2 win over Boston at UBS Arena to snap a season-high seven game losing streak. Boston will be riding a wave of emotion following Thursday’s 2-1 victory over Toronto on home ice. Goals have been hard to come by for both teams that rank at the bottom of the league in total offense. The last time Boston scored three goals was Mar. 10 in a 3-2 win over New York and have produced two or less in five games since. New York scored three goals in two of their last five games before the break but were also shutout twice in a six-game period. This marks New York’s first of five games at home to close out the season and first of two at Prudential Center where they hope ‘The Rock’ will bring them good fortune having struggled at home with just two wins and six points in eight games split evenly between UBS Arena and Total Mortgage Arena. Boston has struggled on the road this season where they’ve managed just four wins and a league-low 11 points in nine games. All four of those wins came in the team’s first four road games but dropped five straight in March.
THE SEASON SERIES SO FAR
New York has won three of four meetings this season and lead the head-to-head series with Boston 9-3 in points. The first three games were played at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell where only the Jan. 20 contest was settled in regulation with New York prevailing 4-1 powered by a Jade Downie-Landry hat trick. The next two games were overtime decisions including Feb. 17 when Alex Carpenter was the hero in New York’s 2-1 victory, and Mar. 10 when Hannah Brandt scored the winner in Boston’s 3-2 triumph. In the Mar. 25 game, New York scored three powerplay goals, including two by Downie-Landry in the 3-2 victory. She leads the season series with seven points, including five goals. Elizabeth Giguère also tallied with the advantage in that game, while Boston’s goals were scored by Alina Müller and Sophie Shirley. In goal, today’s starters went head-to-head before the break with Corinne Schroeder stopping 29 of 31 shots for her third win of the season series, and Aerin Frankel making 31 saves on 34 shots in defeat.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
New York’s Alex Carpenter and Boston’s Hilary Knight both showed why they are among the world’s best offensive stars having tied for the scoring lead with 10 points for Team USA in Utica. Carpenter, who ranks third in PWHL scoring with 19 points, tallied six times with four assists and was named Best Defender and a tournament All-Star. Knight, who has seven PWHL points, scored four goals and six assists for the silver medallists. Two of the league’s top scoring defenders are in this game, with New York’s Ella Shelton (4G 9A) and Boston’s Megan Keller (3G 9A) second and third in points at their position with 13 and 12 respectively. New York’s Jessie Eldridge (6G 5A) and Abby Roque (4G 7A) are tied for third in team scoring with 11 points, followed by Jade Downie-Landry (6G 4A) and Jaime Bourbonnais (3G 7A). Seven of Downie-Landry’s 10 points have come against Boston. Alina Müller (3G 11A) leads Boston’s attack with 14 points after leading Switzerland in scoring at Worlds. Susanna Tapani (4G 6A) had a first star performance on Thursday, carrying over her confidence from representing Finland, with a goal and an assist to bring her season total to 10. Jamie Lee Rattray (2G 8A) also has double digits with 10 points and will line up opposite her Team Canada teammates in Bourbonnais and Shelton.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
“It seems like a lifetime since we’ve been in a game, and the team is looking forward to getting back into the ring. We like where we left off prior to the break. It will be important to find that same energy early against Boston.” – Howie Draper, New York
“We know what’s at stake as we’re fighting for a spot to continue our season. It’s our goal to play with urgency on Saturday.” – Emily Brown, Boston
“We have to keep taking things one game at a time. The biggest thing is to focus on the opponent ahead of us. We want to stay focused, be where our feet are.” – Courtney Kessel, Boston
QUICK HITS
Boston (-9) is fifth in goal differential and New York (-10) ranks sixth…Boston (2.00) is sixth in goals-per-game average and New York (2.05) ranks fifth…Boston (2.45) allows the third most goals-per-game and New York (2.58) allows the second most on average…Boston has scored the game’s first goal eight times and won seven of those games, New York has scored first in seven of their games and won five of them…Both teams have scored their most goals in the third period with 15 for New York and 14 for Boston…Boston has played in 12 one-goal games and won seven of them, New York has played in 11 one-goal games and won five…Boston (+6) is fourth in shot differential and New York (-132) ranks sixth…Boston (28.00) is tied for third in shots-per-game average and New York (27.16) ranks sixth…Boston (27.60) allows the third most shots-per-game and New York (34.05) allows the most on average…Boston has outshot its opponents in seven games, New York in two games…New York (7.32) is first in penalty minutes per game and Boston (6.00) ranks fifth…New York (15/64) is second in powerplay efficiency at 23.4%…Boston (3/46) ranks sixth on the PP at 6.5%…New York (51/56) is second in penalty kill efficiency at 91.1%…Boston (46/56) ranks fourth on the PK at 82.1%…Alex Carpenter (NY) is third in league scoring with 19 points…Carpenter and Alina Müller (BOS) are in a five-way tie for first in assists with 11…Ella Shelton (NY) is second in scoring among defenders with 13 points…Megan Keller (BOS) is third in scoring among defenders with 12 points…Carpenter leads the league with nine power play points followed by Shelton with eight and Abby Roque (NY) with seven…Taylor Girard (BOS) is tied for the league-lead with two shorthanded points…Susanna Tapani (BOS) is tied for first with a plus-14 rating…Roque is tied for the league-lead with 31 penalty minutes…Carpenter and Jessie Eldridge lead New York with 71 shots on goal…Hilary Knight leads Boston with 66 shots…Roque (159/260) leads New York with a face-off percentage of 61.2%…Carpenter (58.8%) leads the team with 357 draws…Hannah Brandt (187/335) leads Boston in face-offs and with a win-rate of 55.8%…Corinne Schroeder (NY) has won six of her 12 starts with one shutout along with a goals-against-average of 2.23 and save percentage of .935 that ranks second…Aerin Frankel (BOS) has won six of her 14 starts with one shutout and a 2.01 GAA and .929 SV%…Kelly Babstock (BOS) will make her PWHL debut after signing a 10-Day contract…Linesperson Justine Todd was among the 13 PWHL officials assigned to the Women’s World Championship.
PROJECTED LINEUPS
NEW YORK:
Woods | Carpenter | Eldridge
Saulnier | Roque | Levis
Labelle | Downie-Landry | Giguère
Norcross | Gruschow | Packer
Hobson | Shelton
Zandee-Hart | Bourbonnais
Fällman | Baker
Zafuto
Schroeder | Levy
Scratches: Aurard, Post, Vespa
BOSTON:
Müller | Tapani | Girard
Rattray | Brandt | Knight
Kosta | Adzija | Shirley
Wenczkowski | Marvin | Pelkey
Babstock
Keller | Brown
DiGirolamo | Fratkin
Healey | Morin
Frankel | Kronish
Scratches: Cook, Gabel, Schafzahl, Söderberg
OFFICIALS:
Referees: Krysta Ansell (Brownstown TWP, MI) and Katie Glover (Seattle, WA).
Linespersons: Joanie Duchesneau (Montreal, QC) and Justine Todd (Kawartha Lakes, ON) .
Follow the league on all social media platforms @thepwhlofficial plus team accounts @pwhl_newyork and @pwhl_boston.