By: Ryan Duffy | Follow Me On Twitter @Rduffy26
In the second half of back-to-back games against the Toronto Six, the Boston Pride were victorious in an 8-2 final. Boston began running away with this game from the start of the second period as the Pride scored four goals on Toronto goaltender Samantha Ridgewell. Boston would chase Ridgewell in the third period after scoring five goals on 21 shots. All around, the Boston Pride were offensively and defensively dominant throughout much of the game.
Despite the game’s result, the Pride didn’t look sharp right off the bat in the first period. Boston allowed a few odd-man rushes in the first five minutes of the game due to a bad line change and a couple of defensive errors. Luckily, Katie Burt stood on her head tonight and stopped a couple of golden opportunities the Six had early in the game. With just over nine minutes left in the first, the Pride would strike first, with Jillian Dempsey burying a one-timer after a sweet cross-ice dish from Amanda Boulier.
A minute later, Boston Forward Sammy Davis would head to the box for hooking. Boston’s special teams only allowed one shot on goal and prevented any high-quality chances for the Toronto Six power play. Boston would eventually have a 5-on-3 man advantage for over a minute. During the 5-on-3, the Pride had solid puck possession and generated three shots on goal. Unfortunately, the Pride could not extend the lead and finished the first period with a 1-0 score.
The Pride would begin the second period with a bang as Meghara McManus would be fed a tap-in goal after a beautiful cross-crease pass from Dempsey. The celebration would be short-lived as Toronto would get on the board just 1:13 later to make it 2-1. Just after the Toronto goal, Six defender Taylor Davison would receive her second penalty of the game for body checking.
In the vulnerable seconds of Davison’s penalty, the Pride would score off a wacky bounce off the glass that would end up on the stick of Taylor Wenczkowski and put the Pride up 3-1. After Wenczkowski’s tally, the floodgates would open, and Boston would begin to light the lamp repeatedly.
Boston would score twice more in the second period, with Davis redirecting a shot from the point (4-1) and a brilliant end-to-end goal from Jenna Rheault (5-1). After Boston’s fifth goal, Toronto head coach Mark Joslin would elect to pull Ridgewell and put Tera Hofmann in the net for the Six.
The final twenty minutes would be much like what happened in the second period, except things would get a little chippy. With Toronto being heavily outplayed and behind by four goals, the Six showed frustration and began to take runs at Pride players. Despite the physical intensity ramping up, the Pride stuck to their game and continued to increase their lead.
Sammy Davis and Christina Putigna would score a minute apart and make the score 7-1. With 13 minutes left in the game, Lauren Kelly would head to the box for high-sticking, and Toronto would score on the ensuing power play off the stick of Lindsay Eastwood from the point. Jillian Dempsey would score for Boston’s again with just over a minute left to make the final 8-3 at Warrior Ice Arena.
Boston’s offense was the story in this game as they scored eight goals on 41 shots against Toronto. With Boston’s victory, the Pride extends their winning streak to three games, improve to 6-2-0 on the season, and remain on top of the Premier Hockey Federation standings. This game was also Toronto’s first regulation loss after being 3-0-1 before this matchup.
The Pride won’t play until December 18th against the Metropolitan Riveters at the Prudential Center Practice Facility in New Jersey at 6:00 PM EST. Streaming will be available on ESPN+ and the PHF Twitch stream.
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