Staturday: Isobel Cup Final Preview

The CWHL has a Clarkson Cup champion and now the time has come for the NWHL to have its Isobel Cup champion. Tomorrow in Lowell, MA the Pride will meet the Buffalo Beauts for a rematch of last year’s finals.

Here are some stats to help set the table for tomorrow’s single elimination showdown.

Boston

  • Meghan Duggan, who was wearing a Buffalo jersey with a captain’s “C” on it in last year’s playoffs, was second in the NWHL in goals this year. She scored 13 goals with Boston.
  • Alex Carpenter lost the scoring race to teammate and now linemate Brianna Decker, but she comes into the Isobel Cup Final with five playoff points after scoring two goals and adding three assists in the Pride’s 8-2 blowout of the Connecticut Whale./
  • Brittany Ott is four inches shorter than the average height of an NWHL goaltender. The five-foot-four netminder was in the crease 66 percent of the time for the Pride this season. Ott got the start in the Pride’s 8-2 win on Thursday win. She stopped 24 of the 26 shots she faced.
  • Hilary Knight has 19 points in 11 games this yearwith the Pride (including the playoffs). Despite missing nearly half the season she finished fourth on Boston in points./
  • Jillian Dempsey has yet to take a minor penalty this year with the Pride. She also had just one registered turnover in 17 regular season games.
  • Jordan Smelker finished last season with 19 points. This year the Alaskan-born forward had just seven points for Boston in 15 games./

Buffalo

  • Amanda Leveille posted a .944 save percentage in Friday night’s game in Newark. During the regular season the former Golden Gopher had an .890 save percentage. Leveille was the 12th /
  • Former Pride forward Corinne Buie led all NWHL players in power play goals. Buie’s five goals were only rivaled by Riveters’ forward Madison Packer who finished the year with four./
  • Rookie Emily Janiga was third on the Beauts in points after the regular season. She scored two goals in Friday night’s victory over the Riveters. Janiga was the 16th pick of the 2015 Draft.
  • This will be the last game of Brianne McLaughlin’s and Harrison Browne’s professional women’s hockey careers. McLaughlin saw 59 percent of the ice time in net for the Beauts this year. Browne scored two shorthanded goals, second only to Boston’s Carpenter.
  • In two NWHL games Hayley Scamurra has two goals, two assists and nine shots. She joined the team at the end of the regular season. Scamurra was the Beauts third round pick of the 2016 Draft.
  • The Beauts’s three triggerwomen are Shiann Darkangelo, Megan Bozek and Kelley Steadman. All three Buffalo stars averaged more than four shots on net per game./
  • Steadman led the Beauts with 1.25 pts/g this season. Last year she averaged 2.0 pts/g for Buffalo. Steadman has 30 points in 18 regular season games in her NWHL career./