Beauts Notebook: Whale's first period flurry bests Buffalo
Steadman scored two more goals on Sunday, but the Beauts were once again overwhelmed by Connecticut's top line.
The Beauts dug themselves into a hole they couldn't escape from Sunday afternoon at the Harborcenter and eventually lost to the visiting Connecticut Whale by a score of 7-5. The Beauts allowed five goals in the first period
Kelley Steadman scored twice (again) and Brianne McLaughlin made seven saves over two periods in relief for Amanda Leveille. Buffalo is now 1-2-1 on the season (good for third place in the standings). The Whale now stand at second place with a 2-1-0 record.
- The loss puts Buffalo at 3-8 historically against Connecticut, including playoffs, dating back to last season. Judging by the regular season only, they're just 1-7.
- Statistically, according to this year's numbers so far, the third period is the Beauts' strongest – they've been outscored 2-6 and 3-8 in the first and second respectively, but dominate in the final frame, 7-2. Three of Steadman's four goals this season have come in the third period, with the lone outlier (her first of the season) coming with 27 seconds to go in the second.
- Although Steadman leads Buffalo in goals, linemate Shiann Darkangelo is the most shot-happy skater on the team. The former Connecticut winger has 18 shots on goal over four games played.
- Haley Skarupa had yet another multi-point game with two goals and an assist, giving her nine points in just three games in her rookie season (that's three points per game). Her line with Nicole Connery and Kelli Stack had a field day Sunday, contributing three of the four goals scored in a first period flurry that resulted in Leveille being chased. It's little wonder she earned the NWHL's first Player of the Week nod this season.
- The last time the Whale put up seven goals on the Beauts was Nov. 22, also at Harborcenter (they coughed up a 6-1 lead in the second period, but won 7-6 in a shootout). Interestingly enough they managed to do it this time around with their fewest shots on goal against Buffalo (23).
- Ric Seiling, jokingly, on preparing his team for the upcoming two-game weekend after Four Nations and then heading into another break for Thanksgiving: "Limit the amount of turkey they're going to have." On a more serious note, he expressed confidence in his players' self-policing abilities and highlighted off-ice training and conditioning as key for staying in the swing of things.
- Captain Emily Pfalzer was to the point when it came to breaking down the method for stopping the brutal Connecticut rush, particularly the Stack line. "Just cleaning up our game. We know we can compete with any team in our league," Pfalzer observed. "We just needed to not have those five-minute breakdowns periodically, so we just focused on cleaning up, keeping them to the outside, and not giving them those Grade-A chances."
- More from Seiling on the Four Nations Cup and the Beauts players going: "I think you can tell who they are based on their play on the ice. I think it's an honor for them, and they look forward to it." /
The Beauts come back to the ice on Nov. 12 against the Riveters at Harborcenter. It will be their first time playing New York state's other NWHL franchise this season.
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