Whale earn another victory in OT - The Collinsville Press

Connecticut defenseman Molly Engstrom had the game-winning goal in overtime Sunday in Danbury to lead the Whale to their 12th win of the season.

DANBURY, Feb. 7 – The Connecticut Whale snapped their two-game losing streak with another overtime win Sunday. Defenseman Molly Engstrom scored with 2:08 left in overtime to lift the Whale to a 3-2 overtime win over the Buffalo Beauts in National Women’s Hockey League play at Danbury Arena.

With just three games remaining in the regular season, Connecticut (12-3) maintains its one-point lead in the four-team league over the Boston Pride (11-3-1), which won their fourth straight game with a 6-1 rout of New York.

Connecticut and Boston will meet the next two weeks in a home-and-away series that will likely decide the NWHL regular season championship. The Whale travels to Boston on Sunday for a 3 p.m. start at Harvard and Connecticut will host the Pride on Sunday, Feb. 21 at 1:30 p.m. at Chelsea Pier in Stamford.

Boston has won three of four games against Connecticut so far this season.

The Whale won for the fourth time in OT this season. Some excellent passing from teammates Kelli Stack and Kelly Babstock left Engstrom wide open in front of the net and she beat Buffalo goalie Brianne McLaughlin for her third goal of the season.

In her first start, goalie Shenae Lundberg made 22 saves to earn the win for Connecticut. Lundberg came to Connecticut on January 31 from New York in exchange for Chelsea Laden in the first-ever NWHL trade.

Connecticut took a 1-0 lead when Alyssa Wohlfeiler scored her third goal of the season on a power play goal in the first period. Buffalo tied the game 1:11 seconds into the second period on a goal from Shelby Bram. About six minutes later, Buffalo took a 2-1 lead on a shorthanded goal by Hannah McGowan.

Connecticut tied the game at 2-2 when Kate Buesser took a nice feed from Kelli Stack in the low slot and got it past McLaughlin.

The Whale gave up just 22 shots on net Sunday – the lowest amount they’ve allowed this season. Whale coach Heather Linstad picked up her first professional victory in her second game on the bench. Linstad coached at the collegiate level for 21 years at Northwestern and UConn, picking up 322 victories. She replaced Jake Mastel, who resigned on January 28.

Connecticut 3, Buffalo 2, OT
At Danbury
Buffalo (4-8-3) 0 2 0 0 — 2
Connecticut (12-3) 1 1 0 1 — 3
First period
Connecticut 1, Alyssa Wohfeiler (Michaela Long, Kelly Babstock), 18:26 (pp); Penalties: Shannon Doyle (Connecticut), tripping, 1:51; Hailey Browne (Buffalo), body checking, 5:27; Kelly Babstock (Connecticut), interference, 9:31; Meghan Duggan (Buffalo), cross checking, 14:33; Browne (Buffalo), holding, 16:22
Second period
Buffalo 1, Shelby Braum (Kelly McDonald, Erin Zach), 1:11; Buffalo 2, Hannah McGowan (Hayley Williams, Lindsay Grigg), 7:39 (sh); Connecticut 2, Kate Buesser (Kelli Stack, Shannon Doyle), 18:13; Penalties: Kaleigh Fratkin (Connecticut), hooking, 3:14; Devon Skeats (Buffalo), slashing, 6:26; Fratkin (Connecticut), roughing, 19:53
Third period
Scoring: none; Penalties: Fratkin (Connecticut), delay of game, 3:05; Babstock (Connecticut), body checking, 16:40; Danielle Ward (Connecticut), tripping, 19:49
Overtime
Connecticut 3, Molly Engstrom, 17:52
Shots on goal: Connecticut 36 (11-12-11), Buffalo 22 (2-4-13)
Goalies: Buffalo — Brianne McLaughlin (L, 0-0) 36 shots, 33 saves; Connecticut – Shenae Lundberg (W, 1-0) 22 shots, 20 saves

National Women’s Hockey League
                                    W-L-OL   Pts
Connecticut                 12-3-0      24
Boston                         11-3-1      23
Buffalo 4-8-3 11
New York 3-10-2 8
Sunday Feb. 7
Connecticut 3, Buffalo 2, OT
Boston 6, New York 1
Sunday, Feb. 14
Connecticut at Boston, 3 p.m.
Buffalo at New York, 2 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 21
Boston at Connecticut, 1:30 p.m.
New York at Buffalo, 3:30 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 28
Boston at Buffalo, 3:30 p.m.
New York at Connecticut, 6 p.m.
End regular season