Whale take advantage of opportunities, top Boston for 6th straight win

Connecticut goalie Jamie Leonoff, the Yale University graduate, stopped 39 shots Sunday in Boston to win her fourth game of the season.

BOSTON, Nov. 29 – The undefeated Connecticut Whale took advantage of opportunities to hand the Boston Pride their third straight loss with a 4-3 decision Sunday in National Women’s Hockey League action at Harvard’s Bright and Landry Center.

Connecticut won its sixth straight game to open the season, scoring twice in the first period after Boston turnovers. The Whale had a four-goal lead only to see Boston cut the lead to one. But Connecticut goalie Jamie Leonoff was sharp, making 39 saves to secure the win. Boston outshot Connecticut, 42-19.

After a third of the NWHL’s initial season (18 games), Connecticut has a three-game lead over Boston (3-3) followed by New York (2-4) and Buffalo (1-4-1).

Two-time Olympian Kelli Stack helped set up Connecticut’s first goal. Stack bumped Boston’s Amanda Pelkey off the puck and Whale teammate Shiann Darkangelo jumped on it and quickly blasted a shot past Boston goalie Brittany Ott with just 37 seconds gone in the game.

The Whale made it 2-0, taking advantage of a poor clearing pass on the power play. A Boston defender tried to clear the puck but sent it right to Connecticut’s Shannon Doyle, who hit a one-time blast past Ott with 10:26 left in the first period.

“We told the girls to get to the puck and good things would happen,” Whale coach Jake Mastel told NWHL during the first intermission. “We have a good group of talented kids who move the puck around and are unselfish. As long as we are scoring, it doesn’t matter who puts it into the net.”

Connecticut made it 3-0 when Darkangelo scored her second goal of the game on a backhanded shot that rose and skipped past Ott. Molly Engelstrom scored her second goal of the season with 5:42 remaining in the second period for a 4-0 lead.

Boston had chances but Leonoff, now 4-0, was up to the task. On one power play opportunity, she stopped five shots. She deflected a hard shot from Brianna Decker off her glove and the crossbar. She stopped Rachel Llanes on a shorthanded breakaway and then pushed away the rebound shot from Corrine Buie.

Leonoff also stopped a penalty shot from Llanes.

Boston finally broke through at the end of the second period. The Whale were trying to run out the final seconds of the period with a pass back to Jordan Brickner, who slipped and fell to the ice. Llanes jumped on the loose puck and snuck a hard shot past Leonoff with 0.02 of a second remaining to cut the lead to 4-1.

The Pride played with tremendous energy in the third period, outshooting Connecticut, 19-3. Boston cut the lead to two on a power play goal from Amanda Pelkey with 16:37 left in the game. When Connecticut’s Brittany Dougherty was called for hooking with 2:38, the Pride pulled their goalie to give Boston a 6-on-4 advantage.

Kacey Bellamy scored with 1:25 left in regulation, getting a shot past Leonoff and a crowd of players in front of the net. Leonoff made two more strong saves with 1:05 remaining and with 16 seconds left to secure the win for Connecticut.

After a five-game road trip, the Whale return home next Sunday to Chelsea Pier in Stamford to host Buffalo at 4:30 p.m.

NOTES: Darkangelo now has scored four goals on the year for Connecticut. She tied for the team lead in goals with Kaleigh Fratkin with four. Fratkin leads with 10 points (4 goals, 6 assists).

Connecticut 4, Boston 3
At Boston
Connecticut (6-0)           2  2  0 – 4
Boston (3-3)                   0  1  2 – 3
First period
1 – Connecticut, Shiann Darkangelo 19:23; 2 – Connecticut, Shannon Doyle (Kate Buesser), 10:26 (pp)
Penalties — Jessica Koizumi, Connecticut (delay of game), 18:48; Brianna Decker, Boston (tripping), 12:21; Gigi Marvin, Boston (tripping), 7:02
Second period
3 – Connecticut, Darkangelo, 9:47; 4 – Connecticut, Molly Engstrom (Doyle), 5:42; 1 – Boston, Rachel Llanes (Kelly Cooke), 0:01
Penalties — Kelli Stack, Connecticut (hooking), 13:52; Decker, Boston (Hooking), 6:53; Kaleigh Fratkin, Connecticut (throwing stick), 6:12; Kate Buesser, Connecticut (checking from behind), 3:34; Decker, Boston (tripping), 2:28; Doyle, Connecticut (roughing), 2:28
Third period
2 – Boston, Amanda Pelkey (Kacey Bellamy), 16:37 (pp); 3 – Boston, Bellamy (Brianna Decker), 1:25 (pp)
Penalties — Kelly Babstock, Connecticut (elbowing), 17:04; Alyssa Gagliardi, Boston (cross checking), 13:38; Brittany Dougherty, Connecticut (hooking), 2:38
Shots on goal – Connecticut 19 (7-9-3), Boston 42 (12-11-19)
Power play opportunities – Connecticut 2-4, Boston 2-6
Goalies – Connecticut, Jamie Leonoff (4-0) 42 shots, 39 saves; Boston, Brittany Ott (2-1), 13 shots, 10 saves; Lauren Slebodnick 6 shots, 5 saves

NWHL standings
                                          W L     SL    Pts
Connecticut                        6-0      0      12
Boston                                3-3      0      6
New York                            2-4      0      4
Buffalo                                1-4      1      3
Sunday’s results
Connecticut 4, Boston 3
Buffalo 3, New York 1
Saturday, December 5
Buffalo at Boston, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, December 6
New York at Boston, 3:30 p.m.
Buffalo at Connecticut, 4:30 p.m.