by Matthew Heller
After the Four Nations Break, the NWHL returned to action on Sunday. The first matchup of the day was the Connecticut Whale versus the Buffalo Beauts, with the Whale coming into the game looking to stay undefeated and the Beauts looking for their first win. The game ended with the Whale coming up with the victory by a score of 3-2.
Credit: Michael Majewski
Credit: Michael Majewski
The game started with an action packed first period, but neither team could solve the opposing goaltender and they left the ice with the score tied at zero. The second period started out with a bang, the Whale coming out of the locker room needing to kill off a penalty that got called late in the first. The Whale killed the penalty, and a missed pass by the Beauts left Kelly Babstock wide open with the puck, where she ripped a shot that hit the top right corner of the net and put the whale up 1-0. Midway through the second period, Kelli Stack took a wrister in front of the net and beat Kimberly Sass to go up 2-0.
The third period started off just as action packed as the first two periods, as just 53 seconds into the period the Beauts finally solve goaltender Jaimie Leonoff. Devon Skeats scored to bring the Beauts to within one, then with 15 minuets remaining in the period Kourtney Kunichika beat Leonoff again to tie the game at 2.
After a great deal of penalties, the Beauts had two 5-on-3 power play chances, but could not beat Leonoff, who stopped a barrage of shots coming from each and every angle possible to keep the game tied at 2. Then, with 55 seconds left to play, Danielle Ward was going to make a pass but instead it hit off a Beauts’ skate and through the open legs of Sass to put the Whale up by a score of 3-2. The 3 stars of the game were Kimberly Sass, Devon Skeats, and Kourtney Kunichika.
With this game in the books, the Whale move on to 4-0 and the Beauts drop to 0-4. Next week, these teams meet again in Buffalo, with puck drop at 3:30PM ET.
For more information about NWHL games, please visit NWHL.co.
