Hughes nets winner as PWHL Ottawa successfully starts second half

Article content

Ottawa 4, New York 2

Article content

With nowhere to go but up, PWHL Ottawa kicked off the second half of its season by scoring a much-needed win at TD Place on Wednesday — just a few hours after the league got around to announcing its playoff format and how the draft order will be determined going forward.

Article content

The 4-2 victory over New York, in front of 6,889 fans, served as hope the team’s second 12-game segment will go better than the first.

Ottawa’s record is now 4-0-4-5, and with the three points for the win, it moved into fifth place just ahead of New York (2-4-2-5).

Both teams have 16 points, just two behind Boston, which sits in the final playoff spot at 18 points.

Ottawa, which had dropped seven of its previous eight, is ahead of New York in the standings based on having more regulation wins.

Article content

Ottawa entered the third period against New York up 2-1, but the visitors tied the score with 10:32 left in regulation when Jaime Bourbonnais scored on a power play with a wrist shot from the slot.

But Ottawa went back in front with 4:06 left on a nice goal by Gabbie Hughes, who took a pass from Amanda Boulier in front of the net New York net, moved the puck from her forehand to backhand, then flipped a shot high over the catching mitt of goalie Abigail Levy.

Lexie Adzija iced the victory with an empty-netter 3.9 seconds from the final buzzer.

“I think the whole group is just feeling ecstatic right now,” said Hughes. “I think we deserved that win … we deserved a couple other wins that didn’t go our way, and we put this one away today, so it feels really good. Hopefully we can continue to build off of it.”

Article content

“Just a nice hockey (play),” said Ottawa coach Carla MacLeod, who credited Boulier for stepping up to intercept a clearing pass before feeding Hughes. “Bou’s got a good brain on her and she anticipated that pass, and picked it off. It’s not the first time we’ve seen her find the back side, and such a nice pass to Hughes. The patience on the goal .. that’s a goal scorer’s goal.

“I know what I would have done with that puck, I would have dumped it deep,” MacLeod jokingly added. “But she chose not to and it was a really nice play and an important one for us.”

Ottawa’s next game is Saturday afternoon (3:30 p.m.) at TD Place against Toronto.

First-round pick Savannah Harmon opened the scoring for Ottawa just 2:30 into the first period, stepping out from behind the net and squeezing a shot past Levy.

Article content

The goal, which was unassisted, was Harmon’s third of the season.

New York’s Jessie Eldridge had a breakaway about nine minutes into the second period, but defender Zoe Boyd tracked her down and prevented her from getting a shot off.

That began a stretch of about three minutes that saw some bizarre happenings, close calls and two goals.

First, with Ottawa’s Jincy Roese in the box for tripping, the home team came inches from scoring a shorthanded goal when Lexie Adzija deked Levy, but slid the puck inches past the open side.

Moments later, Ottawa’s Fanni Garat-Gasparics cashed in her own rebound for the shorty and her first PWHL goal.

“It felt really, really good,” said Garat-Gasparics, a 29-year-old from Budapest who is the first Hungarian player to play in the league. “I didn’t even know, but there was some Hungarian fans out there. I love our home crowd. The people are incredible and to see some Hungarian fans and (posters), it feels even more great and I’m really that I could do it at home and in a winning game.”

Article content

The two goal-cushion lasted just 38 seconds, however, because of some equipment failure that occurred when Ottawa defender Zoe Boyd tried to pass the puck up ice. The blade of her stick broke off the shaft and helicoptered through the air as the puck went directly to New York’s Chloe Aurard, who capitalized on the turnover by firing a shot past Emerance Maschmeyer.

Less than two minutes after that, Ottawa had a chance to break the game open when New York’s Abby Roque was handed a five-minute major and game misconduct for hitting from behind.

The power play created some good chances near the end of the major, but ultimately fizzled.

Maschmeyer stopped 24 shots while Levy made 25 saves.

“We needed it,” MacLeod said of the win. “For not only us, but even our fans and everyone here. Nothing’s ever easy, and that’s okay in this world. It doesn’t have to be easy, and it was certainly well-earned tonight.

Article content

“I thought probably a little more up and down (than we wanted),” she added of the team’s play. “We’re trying to find that consistency so there’s not such a big margin. There will always be ripples, but just finding that consistency will be the next step.”

The playoff format and process to determine the draft order that was announced earlier Wednesday are both unique and innovative.

While the top four teams will qualify for the post-season, the club finishing first gets to choose its opening-round opponent in a best-of-five series, leaving the other two to face each other.

The top-ranked team in each series will host Games 1, 3 and, if necessary, 5.

Only the two teams failing to make the playoffs will be eligible to have the first overall pick of the next draft, with the one accruing more draft order points after it is officially eliminated winning the No. 1 selection.

Article content

The first-place team will pick sixth, the second-place team will pick fifth, the third-place team will pick fourth, and the fourth-place team will pick third overall.

“The perfect complement to the PWHL’s standings structure, in which a team earns three points for a regulation victory, is a process that rewards competitiveness, parity, and integrity across the league throughout the regular-season,” said Jayna Hefford, PWHL Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations. “Winning is prioritized for playoff positioning — and non-playoff teams have to earn the first overall draft selection, rather than depend on a lottery or repeated losses to improve their chances of securing the top pick.”

dbrennan@postmeida.com

Article content