by Austin Jankowiak
STAMFORD, CT— The Buffalo Beauts defeated the Connecticut Whale 4-3 in the final game of their three game series on Sunday night at Chelsea Piers CT. The Beauts were all accounted for with the return of Meghan Duggan to the lineup for the final game. Nicole Stock got her first nod of the playoffs in net, while Brianne McLaughlin started for the third time.
Meghan Duggan got her name on the game sheet early on, but certainly not how she wanted to, taking a hooking penalty 3:12 into the game. The Beauts would work well on the penalty kill, surviving a few close calls and being bailed out by a big kick-save from McLaughlin towards the end of the call. Buffalo would get their first major chance with Kaleigh Fratkin in the box for cross-checking. It would take a little more time than that two minutes, but the Beauts would eventually get on the board with 8:33 left on the clock. A Megan Bozek slap shot set-up by Duggan found its way past Stock before she even knew what happened and put Buffalo up 1-0. The Whale would answer and knot the score at 1 a little over a minute later, thanks to a goal by Kelli Stack. Stack got in 1-on-1 against McLaughlin, making a move and putting it through the Buffalo goalie’s five hole.
The second period only featured half the action that the first did in the goals department, but the chances for more were there. Brianne McLaughlin had her fair share of amazing saves, even running out of her crease to stop a breakaway chance. The goalies would play 19:58 of perfect hockey at both ends in the period, but a Beauts goal with less than 2 seconds on the clock would ruin perfection in the period for Stock. Kelly Babstock stopped on a rush, perhaps thinking she heard a whistle, and left the puck open for the taking. Emily Pfalzer would take the puck from her and pass it to Devon Skeats on a 2-on-1. Skeats’ first attempt wouldn’t go past Stock, but the rebound shot from Hailey Browne would trickle in. Browne’s goal would put the Beauts up 2-1 as they went to their locker room.
In a do-or-die situation, the Whale came out firing in the final frame. Shots on net by Babstock and Stack couldn’t solve Brianne McLaughlin in the early minutes, but Babstock would eventually get her chance. Babstock’s shot from just above the hash marks would beat McLaughlin and tie the game with 14:00 remaining on the clock. The Beauts came back almost immediately, and within a minute, Kourtney Kunichika rang a deflection off the post behind Stock. Micaela Long would take a penalty for cross checking with 7:18 left on the clock, giving the Beauts a power play chance. The Beauts would make sure they took full advantage, with Devon Skeats deflecting a shot into the back of the net, putting the Beauts up 3-2 with only 7:27 on the clock. Paige Harrington would give the Whale a final chance to knot the game up with a 2 minute interference penalty and the Whale would make it a 6-on-4 chance by pulling Stock. Megan Bozek would score on the empty net and put the Beauts up 4-2 with 1:14 left, but the Whale were not out. With just a little under 45 seconds to go, Babstock would net a goal and bring the game once again within 1 goal for the Whale. It would be all for naught though, as the Beauts would hold off the Whale in the final 45 seconds for the win, 4-3.
Playoff hockey is always unpredictable and this series was no different. The Beauts were swept during the regular season by the Whale, dropping all 6 games on the year. This win by the Buffalo Beauts over the Connecticut Whale propels them to the Isobel Cup finals, where they will face the number 1 seeded Boston Pride. Next weekend will be a three game series between them and the Pride in Newark, New Jersey.
